View Issue Details

IDProjectCategoryView StatusLast Update
0014280ScribusPDFpublic2016-10-17 22:26
ReporterRLPLNBT Assigned To 
PrioritynormalSeveritymajorReproducibilitysometimes
Status newResolutionopen 
PlatformPCOSWindowsOS Version7 Professional
Product Version1.5.2 
Summary0014280: PDFs produced by scribus are unopenable by some users, causing crashes and programs to stop working
DescriptionWe are working on a in-house flyer in Scribus and we've ran into a issue where some users are getting hangs or crashes. This is not consistent(it seems that some users are able to make it work and some aren't for every export). Our flyer is very image heavy(36 pages, between 20-25 images per page.) All images are relatively low DPI.

We previously used Adobe InDesign CS6 to prdouce our flyer, but once that computer died we were switched to a windows system and the flyer was reproduced from scratch. These are the same resources we used for the previous flyer, so I'm at a complete loss why any pdf only works on a select few programs.

Example of trouble PDF: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwxEF3v7BxKkWWlBWnhsVzU0VE0/view?usp=sharing
Tagsacrobat, PDF
PatchNo

Activities

jghali

2016-08-31 23:13

administrator   ~0041958

Last edited: 2016-08-31 23:14

You have apparently chosen to outline all fonts. This is a (very) bad choice for electronic distribution as all text is converted to paths. In PDF viewers drawing text based on fonts is much for efficient than drawing paths, both in term of speed and also in term of memory. Exporting text as outlines is only really suited when targeting PDF for printing on a press.

So my only advice is to change the font export method to "Embed or Subset".

RLPLNBT

2016-08-31 23:26

reporter   ~0041959

Embedding or subsetting fonts seems to makes no difference. The first proof we sent out was all embeded, and after the outcry that was one of many things I tried. I have also tried having all fonts subset. Neither provided much improvement. I have tried exporting in PDF 1.3, 1.4, 1.5, changing color to greyscale, No compression, maximal compression(high compression seems to work, maximal does not). I have been playing with different ways for a good three weeks now.

jghali

2016-09-01 00:25

administrator   ~0041960

At this point we will need all the document, fonts and image to see if we can do anything. Best way to get everything is to use the File > Collect for output. We also need to know what kind of viewer are using the users which have problems. My guess is that those are not using Adobe Reader.

Be aware that Scribus PDF are mostly intended for print. As a consequence they exert parts of PDF specifications which are not well handled by PDF viewers such as those embedded in internet browsers.

ale

2016-09-01 06:53

manager   ~0041961

as a workaround you can try to use ghostscript or some other tool to make the pdf better usable for viewers.

the gs command for shrinking the size of the pdf might be helpful:

https://wiki.scribus.net/canvas/Reduce_the_size_of_Scribus_generated_PDFs

but, indeed, it would be very useful to know what is the cause of your issues... so, please, share your files and resources (and eventually mark this ticket as private so that only the devs can see it) so that jean can try it out.

in my experience, viewers (like os x preview or the ones embedded in the browsers) have failed at correctly showing the scribus' pdf but i don't think that i ever had a crash...

RLPLNBT

2016-09-01 17:13

reporter   ~0041965

Our most vocal user is running Adobe Acrobat 8 and refuses to update(it's been something I've been pressing for a while, but I understand his position. There is no guarantee our web users will be updated).

I've tried a couple of different setups with ghostscript, the problem is that it flattens text. Our users need to be able to review the PDF with a integrated search. That basically leaves two options: Compress with ghostscript and then OCR the resulting PDF(with all the issues that creates), or don't compress. I'm still researching if there's a way to compress it without flattening that text.

I did have a compatible version that was unsearchable, but our contractors almost rioted because they had to search manually instead of ctrl + f, and you can probably guess what happened next.

It's funny, the Google PDF Prieview is the one we've had the least issues with(save some contractors refusing to follow instructions). It's Adobe Acrobat that we're having the most issues with, but the version is not consistent. One of our newer contractors has Acrobat DC Pro and she cannot open it from her home computer, but the office floor computer with the same version will open it with no problems. We have a user that is still running Acrobat 7 on an old XP machine that opens it fine.

We have had some limited success with switching people to Foxit PDF reader, but there are few contractors willing to make the switch. Of the four people who have, there has been limited success. There's a massive hang time on any searches and opening the document, but it doesn't crash.

It's also possible I've done some horrible error somewhere in the document and that's collapsing all the XML. This document was originally created in 1.4.6, but I updated to development 1.5.2 because of the ridiculous lag.

Here is the present collected output: https://1drv.ms/u/s!AknQCkhNOc1Tc2lJH-T4iRwGxQI

RLPLNBT

2016-10-17 18:26

reporter   ~0042153

An Update: We just pushed another copy of the flyer out to realtors and now EVERYONE with Adobe is having issues with lag, especially when searching text. Several users have had crashes, and I've had one report of a blue screen. The blue screen was off site, so I don't have any of the information(the user is not very tech savvy, so she didn't write any of the information down. I have sent out a email to all of our contractos to message me with exact crash details).

The work around involves previewing it with Google Chrome through Gmail, but the riot has already begun. My computer has no issues with it, but now it seems like everyone running acrobat has a problem loading or searching.

Here is a link to our most recent version: https://1drv.ms/b/s!AknQCkhNOc1TdMDge87GFclXHb0

 I can supply collected output on request.

ale

2016-10-17 19:10

manager   ~0042154

hi

you don't seem to have tried any of the "scripts" i've linked to.

i've opened your pdf and -- while it works ok -- it indeed feels sluggish with evince.
most of all when selecting text.

it works ok in chrome.

i've run the pdf through the gs command which is suggested for linux and the resulting pdf is snappy in evince.
slightly better (i think) in chrome.

cbradney

2016-10-17 19:42

administrator   ~0042155

Last edited: 2016-10-17 19:43

The latest version opens fine here on Adobe Reader DC for Mac. It used 885Mb RAM while open, 45 with nothing open.

Another one is - are all your images at the right DPI for the intended output?

Once it has loaded which takes maybe a minute on my machine, it renders and scrolls ok.

RLPLNBT

2016-10-17 20:17

reporter   ~0042156

The DPI of images used is a bit random, but I've set the output to scale all images down to 150 DPI. Most pictures used have a native resolution of 72 DPI, but our users use all types of different devices to capture the images(you'll notice some variance in quality in the middle of the flyer - many of these are taken through smudged cameras or ancient phones). Most of the resizing work is done within scribus itself, using "Adjust image to frame", with some touchup work using GIMP 2.0.

cbradney

2016-10-17 20:55

administrator   ~0042157

Yeah as long as you dont have some really high res images sized to small image frames.. so the complete data is stored but then not used as its so small...

ale

2016-10-17 22:26

manager   ~0042159

sorry, forgot to upload the processed pdf: https://framadrop.org/r/Mfbp4ucKer#pm2AlNqVT+idCzE/EhyQ7tj2iOCp5UlJeqyCjd/3srk=

Issue History

Date Modified Username Field Change
2016-08-31 22:33 RLPLNBT New Issue
2016-08-31 23:13 jghali Note Added: 0041958
2016-08-31 23:14 jghali Note Edited: 0041958
2016-08-31 23:26 RLPLNBT Note Added: 0041959
2016-09-01 00:25 jghali Note Added: 0041960
2016-09-01 06:53 ale Note Added: 0041961
2016-09-01 17:13 RLPLNBT Note Added: 0041965
2016-09-01 18:00 RLPLNBT Tag Attached: acrobat
2016-09-01 18:00 RLPLNBT Tag Attached: PDF
2016-10-17 18:26 RLPLNBT Note Added: 0042153
2016-10-17 19:10 ale Note Added: 0042154
2016-10-17 19:42 cbradney Note Added: 0042155
2016-10-17 19:43 cbradney Note Edited: 0042155
2016-10-17 20:17 RLPLNBT Note Added: 0042156
2016-10-17 20:55 cbradney Note Added: 0042157
2016-10-17 22:26 ale Note Added: 0042159