Engine update: letter pairs, table margins and damaged files

Another batch of engine work went live on 7 October. As always, we put our output next to Publisher's own PDF and fix what differs. Each item says which formats it covers.

Damaged and cut-off files

  • A clear reason when a file is damaged. Some .pub files are cut off, often because a download stopped part of the way. Before, the conversion failed with a general error. Now the engine reads the file's structure first and tells you what is wrong, for example: "This file is cut off at 2.00 MB of about 5.00 MB. The download was incomplete. Download it again."
  • Files that are not Publisher files now say so, instead of failing with a general error.

Letter pairs

  • Letter pairs join as in Publisher. In some fonts, such as Calibri, Candara and Palatino Linotype, Publisher joins pairs like "fi", "fl" and "ti" into one shape. We never joined them, so words looked slightly different and lines could break in a different place. We now join the same pairs in the same fonts, in the PDF, Word and InDesign exports. ODG files already did this.
  • No hyphen inside a joined pair. Publisher never splits a word between the two letters of a joined pair. Now the PDF export doesn't either.

Tables

  • Cell margins. We mixed up two of a cell's margin settings, top and right, so text could sit too far from or too close to the cell's edge. Text now sits the right distance from the cell's left and right edges, in the PDF, InDesign and ODG exports.
  • Calendar numbers line up. Day numbers set to the right edge of a calendar cell now sit where Publisher puts them, in the PDF export.
  • Line spacing inside cells. Cells with multiple line spacing, such as 1.5 lines, now space their lines as in Publisher, in the PDF export.

Shapes, fills and pictures

  • 3-D shapes in every format. Cubes, cans and bevelled boxes got their shaded faces in the PDF on 5 October. Word, InDesign and ODG files now get them too.
  • Texture fills in InDesign and ODG files. Texture fills, such as paper or wood, were stretched across the shape instead of repeated as small tiles. They now repeat at Publisher's size and start at the corner of the shape.
  • Gradients in InDesign files. "From corner" and "from center" gradients now come out as in Publisher. Gradients in shapes turned a quarter turn now run in the right direction.
  • See-through colours in photos. In Publisher, you can make one colour in a photo transparent. On many photos, we drew that colour solid. It is now see-through, in every format.

Word and ODG files

  • Items behind the text stack right in Word files. When a page has several items set behind the text, Word could draw them in the wrong order, so one could hide another. They now stack as in Publisher.
  • Text sits at the right height in ODG files. In frames with fixed line spacing, LibreOffice Draw put the first line too low. It now sits where Publisher puts it.
  • Picture brightness and contrast in ODG files. Pictures set lighter with lower contrast, and greyscale or black-and-white pictures with brightness or contrast changes, now get Publisher's tones.

More fixes, later on 7 October

  • Text in grouped boxes. When text flowed from one text box into a box that is part of a group, some of the text could go missing. Grouped boxes now keep all their settings, so the text arrives. The fix is in how the engine reads the file, so every format gets it.
  • Where text starts in a frame. In some frames, most often frames that grow to fit their text, the first line started higher or lower than in Publisher. It now starts where Publisher starts it, in the PDF export.
  • Line spacing in table cells in ODG files. Cells with multiple line spacing now space their lines as in Publisher. The PDF export got this fix earlier the same day.
  • Bottom-aligned text in InDesign files. Text set to the bottom of its frame now sits where Publisher puts it.

If one of your files came out wrong in any of these ways, run it again. You don't need to buy again. The preview is free, and conversions are a one-time $49 for as many conversion jobs as you like, up to 20 files and 2 GB each.