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Oddities by importing a pdf of a music score


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Hi,

I know currently Affinity apps don't support embedded fonts. However I tried to import a pdf document (a musical score) having all the fonts but Publisher returns alterations in the positions of the accidentals (see the file). Moreover same result with Designer.

I tried some random attempts to fix it and eventually Publisher returned the unaltered content with a pdf before exported as B&W with Apple Preview.
I have no idea why the original pdf (produced by Finale software, a standard in music notation) was altered and why the one passed through the filter remains unchanged instead.

However I think it is the case to put it to the attention of the developers (attached all the files for a test).

Thanks

Matteo

osX 10.14.5 / Affinity Publisher 1.7.0.376

TestImportPdf.afpub

Rolla_Concerto_Partitura pagina 2.pdf

Rolla_Concerto_PartituraB&W.pdf

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My guess is that it is still related to Affinity apps' not supporting PDF passthrough of fonts. Someone has reported a similar problem with PDFs exported from MuseScore (if I remember right), and I just tried the same with a score PFD from LilyPond with similar bad results. In LilyPond's case, I know it uses its own internal fonts that are not installed as actual fonts in the system, so without passthrough, it is sure to fail.

My last version of Finale was 2011, so they may have changed things since then. Back then, it installed music fonts as actual fonts in the system, so in those cases it should work fine if you have those fonts installed and active at the system level. Perhaps Finale does it differently now (which in my opinion would be an improvement—I didn't like that it cluttered up my font menu with numerous fonts that were useless to me outside of Finale).

The lack of font passthrough is going to be a continuous problem until Serif can implement it. I didn't even know such a thing was an issue until testing Publisher, because previously, it all "just worked" in any app that supported PDF.

——————

After a test, the B&W trick did not work for me. In fact, I even tried to place your Rolla_Concerto_PartituraB&W.pdf, and it also did not work, presumably because I do not have those fonts installed on my system. If you can indeed place that particular file in Publisher on your machine, then something other than fonts may be going on. 

 

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Hi garrettm30,

thank you for taking the time to test.

I'm disoriented…

All the needed fonts are on my system
I thought this was enough to properly import a pdf. I don't understand why some symbols are moved.

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As long as it works for Notion, I'm good. :D

But seriously, I'm glad you found this issue. Will save me time scratching my head in the future.

My BOOK (created with Publisher, Designer & Photo):
Clearing a Path to Joy (And finding contentment along the way)

My WEBSITE (also developed using Affinity apps):
www.RolandK.ca — "Relentless adventures in self-expression"

[Power Mac & Intel PC (HighSierra/Monterey/Win 10]

 

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  • 7 months later...
  • Staff

We have made fixes/improvements to this area (PDF with musical notes font - Maestro - does not import correctly) of the program in the latest customer beta. If you would like to try these changes the beta software is available in the forum posts listed below.

The latest beta builds are downloadable from links at the top of each of these beta forum posts.

These betas install parallel, next to the release version (they do not overwrite your release) and so the fixes can be tried in the beta without affecting your normal workflow in the release version.

Once these programs have been through a full beta process the change will be released in a future free 1.8.0 update/patch to all customers. This fix will also be made available in Designer and Photo in forthcoming 1.8.0.x beta builds

Patrick Connor
Serif Europe Ltd

"There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man. True nobility lies in being superior to your previous self."  W. L. Sheldon

 

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