Layout Disappearing -- F*** Publisher!

[000]

Please find attached a short video I just recorded (it's a re-producable problem, I recorded it when it happened the third time and I was sure that it wasn't me doing something stupid).

As you might notice, when I open the file the preview thumbnails are empty, even though the pages are filled with text, but that doesn't bother me.

Then this happens: I copy some text (including two pinned logos and an image) from one of the pages, then create a new page at the end of the document and start a new section on this page. When I try inserting the copied text, ALL TEXT IN THE DOCUMENT DISAPPEARS and my pasted text pops up on the first page of the document (not on the new page in the new section).

I make a living of this kind of work and need reliable, functional tools. Would love to help, figuring out what goes wrong here, but as I need to finish this job AND don't get paid for experimenting with Publisher, I'll abandon it for now and revisit it in six months or so. Sorry, but this kind of behaviour is not acceptable. Love Designer and Photo, LOVE the idea of Publisher but simply cannot risk using it until it runs stable enough to do a simple copy-paste job. REALLY angry, as I have to re-do all the work in InDesign now. Happy bank holiday everyone!

[PaulEC]

I'm not 100% sure (trying to see exactly what you're doing and using Windows rather than MAC) but I think the way you're pasting the text is the problem. At the moment all the text frames appear to be linked and you seem to be pasting the new text so that it replaces the existing text. I think you either need to paste it at the end of the existing text (ie click at the end of the text, not on a new page) or to insert a page break before pasting the text.

[000]

Hi Paul,

before pasting the text, I select the empty text frame on the first page of the new section. Even if Publisher did not take the new section into account, it should at least add the text at the end of the existing text, not delete everything unless it's selected (which it isn't).

What looks like me selecting several pages is me clicking on the second to last page and then the new page first, to make sure I'm actually just selecting the last (empty) page instead of the entire spread.

[Jon P]

Jens is it possible for you to upload the file you use in the video to here? I couldn't reproduce it with a quick document I mocked up.

Thanks

[000]

Hi Jon,

I have kept the file and am happy to upload it, bit don't feel comfortable posting it here openly as it's something I'm working on for a customer.

Do you have an upload link for me?

[Jon P]

Ofcourse, please upload it here

[Dave Harris]

On 8/26/2019 at 2:06 PM, Jens Krebs said:

Hi Paul,

before pasting the text, I select the empty text frame on the first page of the new section. Even if Publisher did not take the new section into account, it should at least add the text at the end of the existing text, not delete everything unless it's selected (which it isn't).

What looks like me selecting several pages is me clicking on the second to last page and then the new page first, to make sure I'm actually just selecting the last (empty) page instead of the entire spread.

This is more or less by design. Generally, when you select a text frame with the Move tool rather than a Text tool, you are not working with a text selection. In this case when you paste, you replace all the text. This was designed mainly for the situation where you have some placeholder text that you want to replace. In Publisher people often design layouts filled with placeholder text, and then later want to replace the placeholder text with real text, and don't want to have to manually select all the text to do it.

If you switch to one of the Text tools, so you have a blinking text caret, the new text will be pasted at the caret position as you want.

I appreciate this has surprised you, and I will log it to be reviewed. Meanwhile, be reassured you have stumbled across a design choice, rather than a bug or Publisher being unreliable or non-functional or unstable.

[thomaso]

1 hour ago, Dave Harris said:

when you select a text frame with the Move tool rather than a Text tool, you are not working with a text selection.

Doesn't the video of Jens at 1:00 min show the text cursor when he right-clicks for the paste action?

        

[000]

Thanks for the reply and explanation @Dave Harris -- I did however click in a new, empty text frame in a new, empty section, so even if I didn't use the text tool (cannot remember, was too angry when it happened) and replacing the text in this case is by design, something went wrong or is at least very un-intuitive.

Edit: Just double-checked my video. As @thomaso pointed out, the text tool is active when I paste the text (I double clicked on the text frame to activate the text tool), so, even IF the sections were somehow connected the pasted text should have been added at the end of the existing text instead of replacing it.

I'll upload the file later (it also contains the copy-paste issue with pinned objects [the small blue logo] and the problem when amending text style decorations [coloured section headers] I filed a few days ago).

Edit: File uploaded.

[Jon P]

Thanks Jens,

I can reproduce it with the file you've sent, not had chance to suss out why yet but I've logged it.

[000]

Thanks, Jon.

If I had to guess, I'd say it has to do with a confusion between page 1 of the document and page 1 of the section ... but haven't touched Publisher again as I have deadlines coming up.

[Dave Harris]

On 8/29/2019 at 11:26 AM, thomaso said:

Doesn't the video of Jens at 1:00 min show the text cursor when he right-clicks for the paste action?

        

Ah; the text tool is selected, but there's no blinking text caret. The right-click menu makes that clear. If it was the text menu, it would have text options like Character Traits, and it actually has general object options like Group. So there is a bug, which is that clicking with the text tool in a frame that is past the end of the story doesn't set the caret - it gets confused because there is no text in the frame. Once that has happened it proceeds as I described earlier. It doesn't involve sections. I can reproduce it with a simple document with 2 empty linked frames.

Thanks for reporting it. I'll get this fixed.

[000]

33 minutes ago, Dave Harris said:

Thanks for reporting it. I'll get this fixed.

Thanks Dave. :0)

[Patrick Connor]

We have made fixes/improvements to this area (Paste text [with Move tool] replaces entire existing story in linked frames) 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.

• Affinity Publisher 1.8.0.556 for Windows
• Affinity Publisher 1.8.0.556 for Mac

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.