Engine update: tables, gradients and WordArt come out closer to the original

A large batch of engine work went live on 2 October. This is the list, kept short. The method hasn't changed: we put our output next to Publisher's own PDF and fix what differs. Each fix applies to the PDF export unless the item says otherwise.

Tables

  • Rows keep the height Publisher gave them. We used to measure the text again and grow rows that Publisher kept small. Tall tables pushed into the column below or over the footer. Now each row keeps the height stored in the file.
  • Table borders in Word, InDesign and ODG files. Borders now have the right sides and the right thickness. LibreOffice Draw drew them almost twice as thick, and Word could lose the side lines of merged cells. Both are fixed.
  • One white cell stays one white cell. A setting that means "this cell is white" was read as "the whole table is white". That painted a white block over the logo or photo behind the table. Every format gets this fix.

Gradients and colours

  • Gradients run the right way in Word, InDesign and ODG files. They often ran in the wrong direction, or InDesign used its own default layout. They now follow the same direction and colours as the PDF. This is the largest change in the release for those three formats.
  • Publisher's named gradients keep all their colours. Metal, gold and rainbow fills painted only their first and last colour, so gold came out pale pink. Now every colour step is there.
  • Gradients on turned shapes run across the shape, as in Publisher.
  • Shapes with no fill setting are white. Publisher paints them white. We drew them see-through, so shapes behind them showed through. Every format gets this fix.
  • Hatch patterns in Publisher 2000 files come out as lines on white, not solid black blocks.
  • White areas in pictures stay white in InDesign files. The PDF got this fix last week. InDesign files now get it too.

Outlines, lines and arrows

  • Default outlines are back. Publisher draws a thin black outline on most shapes unless the file turns it off. We left it out, so a white starburst on white paper disappeared. Lines inside grouped diagrams also went missing, so some flowcharts came out with no arrows at all. Both are fixed.
  • Arrowheads are the right size. Our arrowheads were up to twice as big as Publisher's, and some were missing. Both are fixed in the PDF and InDesign exports.
  • Text box outlines. Text boxes that Publisher outlines with its default thin black line now have that line.
  • Decorative picture borders in Publisher 2000 files use their real tiles: hearts, checks and pencils.
  • Shapes with a hole stay hollow. A ring-shaped freeform painted as a solid block over the picture under it. It now has its hole, in the PDF and InDesign exports.
  • Groups inside slightly tilted groups no longer disappear. Some jigsaw page borders and banners were lost this way.

Things hidden under other things

  • Master page items stack in Publisher's order. A white label on a red panel went under the panel, and footer text hid under coloured bars. Now items stack as they do in Publisher.
  • Shapes on top of coloured text boxes stay on top, in the PDF and InDesign exports.
  • Coloured background panels no longer paint over the sidebars and icons that sit on them, in the PDF and InDesign exports.

WordArt

  • Curved, wavy and pinched WordArt keeps its shape. We read the amount of curve in the wrong unit, so curved headlines came out almost flat. Curve, Wave, Can and Deflate styles now bend as much as they do in Publisher, in the PDF, InDesign and ODG exports.
  • Smoother letters. Curved and stretched WordArt letters had small flat edges on round shapes like o, e and S. Now the curves are smooth.
  • WordArt outlines that Publisher draws by default are back.
  • Text around a round seal sits on the circle, not half a letter inside it.
  • Turned and stacked WordArt in ODG files opens in LibreOffice Draw as clean text, not stretched bars.

Pages, booklets and card sheets

  • A4 pages on Letter paper in Word and InDesign files. These were shrunk and pinned to the top of the sheet. They now come out full size and centred, the way Publisher prints them. As in Publisher, the sheet edge cuts off the part that does not fit. The PDF got this change last week.
  • Business cards and labels land where the file says, using the saved margins and gaps, in the PDF and Word exports.
  • Folded cards and booklets. A picture that runs off one panel no longer spills onto the next panel of the printed sheet.

Clip art and older embedded pictures

  • Clip art that uses a cut-out shape. Some WordArt titles and logos in clip art are painted through a letter-shaped cut-out. We ignored the cut-out and drew solid blocks. They are fixed.
  • Grey blocks in InDesign and ODG files. Many older clip-art pictures came out as flat grey blocks in those two formats. They now show the picture.
  • Equations and captions inside clip art. Equation previews put each number in its place, and captions that went missing now appear.
  • Embedded pictures in Publisher 2000 files. Some were blank, some were painted black, and some landed in the wrong frame. Most of these are fixed.

Turned shapes in Word and InDesign files

  • Shapes turned a quarter turn keep their size. In Word and InDesign files, these shapes came out with width and height swapped. A tall side bar became a flat band. They now match the PDF.

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, up to 2 GB and 20 files per job.