Engine update: table borders, dashed lines and 3-D shapes

Another batch of engine work went live on 5 October. The method is the same as always: we put our output next to Publisher's own PDF and fix what differs. Each item says which formats it covers.

Tables

  • Outer borders sit inside the table. Publisher draws a table's outside border inside the table's edge. We centred it on the edge, so half of it hung outside and the table looked a little too big. It now sits inside, in the PDF, Word, InDesign and ODG exports.
  • No lost rows or re-wrapped text. Moving the border inside takes a little room from the cells. In Word and InDesign files, that could push a word onto a new line or hide a table's last row. The cells now give back that room, so the text wraps as it did before.
  • Border pieces start on the right row. Some table borders started one row too early. They now cover the rows Publisher gives them, in the PDF export.

Dashed lines

  • Dashes start where Publisher starts them. On dashed borders, the dash pattern started at a different corner, so the dashes and gaps did not line up with Publisher's. Dashed lines now start at the same end and corner as in Publisher, in every format.

Shapes and fills

  • 3-D shapes get their shaded faces. Cubes, cans and bevelled boxes came out flat in one colour. Each face now has its own lighter or darker tone, as in Publisher, in the PDF export.
  • Texture fills line up with the shape. Texture fills, such as paper or wood, started at the corner of the page instead of the corner of the shape. They now line up with the shape, in the PDF export.

Pictures and clip art

  • Sharper photos. Some photos with effects, cropping or flipping came out blocky. They are sharp now, in the PDF and ODG exports.
  • Smoother photos when you zoom. Publisher marks photos in its PDFs so a viewer smooths them when it scales them. Our PDFs now do the same.
  • Pictures fill their frame exactly. Some pictures stored in Windows drawing formats came out a little too wide, too large or one pixel past their frame. They now fill the frame as in Publisher, in the PDF export.

Word files

  • Shadows on outline frames. Page borders and photo frames with an outline and no fill now get Publisher's shadow in Word files. The PDF got this fix on 4 October, and InDesign and ODG files get it now too.
  • "From corner" and "from center" gradients now spread from the corner or the center in Word and ODG files. The PDF got this fix on 4 October.
  • Master page items stack in Publisher's order in Word files. The PDF, InDesign and ODG files already had this fix.
  • Clip art with picture effects. In Word files, some clip art with effects came out as a narrow strip. It now shows the whole picture.
  • Turned clip art that is cropped keeps its shape in Word and ODG files.

InDesign files

  • Shapes on top of pictures stay on top. In InDesign files, a shape that sits on a picture could go under it. It now stays on top, as in Publisher.

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.