|
Anyone else having problems with titles not appearing in full on chapter headings (for instance, on page 4 I can see the "S" from "Second", then the line is empty until "layer's Guide"), and pictures covering over text (flag on the ToC covering up the names of the chapters, the image on page 14 covering quite a bit of text, etc)? I've never had a problem viewing any PDFs, Paizo or otherwise, using Apple Preview so this was unexpected.
How did you get access to the PDF download so quickly??
It isn't even showing up for me yet.
|
|
My number came up early? :)
I always seem to be part of the last batch of people who get to download their PDFs, so when I saw mine we available this afternoon I nearly flipped my lid.
(My g/f just opened the file with no problems using Adobe Acrobat, so maybe it's an issue with Preview.
I also re-personalized the file, downloaded again, and still having the same issue.)
Creative Director
|
We've done a few lookie-loo type experiments here, and the file worked fine on my computer but did indeed have the same errors when viewed on another computer. My guess: you need to update your Adobe Reader. It ran fine on version 8, for example, but we got the errors when using version 3.
Beyond that, I'll let folk know that it's an issue and see if we can't make sure to get it working on ALL versions of the PDF readers. But that might not be possible. I don't know enough about PDF readers to say for sure...
How did you get access to the PDF download so quickly??
It isn't even showing up for me yet.
Hopefully it will show up as available for me soon. :(
Hopefully it will show up as available for me soon. :(How did you get access to the PDF download so quickly??
It isn't even showing up for me yet.
Fixed. Download is now available. :D
|
|
I was having the same problem using Preview on my mac also. Works fine on an up-to-date Adobe reader on the same computer though. In pPreview, the problem seems to be with background graphics appearing over the top of text. So on the contents page the "watermark" was on the top of the contents, rather than beneath.
Cheers,
Ukos
PS: The new look is very cool by the way! U
I was having the same problem using Preview on my mac also. Works fine on an up-to-date Adobe reader on the same computer though. In pPreview, the problem seems to be with background graphics appearing over the top of text. So on the contents page the "watermark" was on the top of the contents, rather than beneath.
I'm seeing the same - with Preview on Mac OS X 10.5.4 it looks as though some background images are being rendered in the foreground, or without the alpha channel being respected.
The PDF of Shadow in the Sky doesn't seem to have any such issues. There is something weird going on with the rendering of the text "Second Darkness" and "Shadow in the Sky" in the page headers, though. They appear to be alternating between bold and normal text from page to page - fine one page, bolded into semi-illegibility the next. Doesn't interfere with use of the book, thankfully.
To confirm; the problems are only occurring with the 32 page Player's Guide, correct?
Yes. The Player's Guide is affected, but Shadow in the Sky displays correctly.
I said this in another thread but I will repeat it again here: it's a problem with new features of the PDF standard. Paizo generates PDFs using version 1.6 of the standard but version 1.4 of the standard is the safe bet for the largest range of PDF viewers out there.
The Quartz system used by Mac OS X for rendering doesn't like the new layer tricks played by newer versions of PDF standard. I think that version 1.5 PDFs would maybe work in Preview but 1.4 is the safe bet here.
Wizards of the Coast generates every PDF using version 1.4 of the standard and the same toolset as Paizo (Adobe InDesign CS3 5.0.2 and Adobe PDF Library) and they render fine in preview.
If you could redo the PDFs selecting version 1.4 of the standard in the generation options, I think that most Mac users would be grateful.
Preview is very fast when compared with Reader due to it using the native PDF support of the operating system. Also, the Mac OS X version of Reader is dog-slow in a Mac when compared to the Windows version. I'v got a Quad Core Xeon 2.66 GHz Mac Pro, and Reader is visibly slower on this machine than in my work Vista Laptop using a Core 2 Duo 2 GHz. So Adobe is also to blame here.
I've been reviewing other RPG PDFs I have available and all of them are following the 1.4 spec. I think that nothing will be lost from downgrading Paizo PDFs to version 1.4. Version 1.5 added support for JPEG2000 images, embedded 3D models and linked multimedia. Version 1.6 added embedded multimedia, XML forms and AES encryption. None of this features seem to be used (or needed) by Paizo documents.
I remember that when Shadowrun 4 was released they also needed to regenerate their PDFs to be able to see them on Apple Preview.
Apple PDF rendering support lags some versions behind Adobe. This are the versions of the spec used by the generated PDF files using the built-in support in the system:
- Jaguar: Adobe PDF 1.2
- Panther: Adobe PDF 1.3
- Tiger: Adobe PDF 1.3
- Leopard: Adobe PDF 1.4
|
Creative Director
|
All of that "PDF Standard" stuff is way over my head... but since we use Macs at Paizo, making the PDFs viewable on Macs is indeed important to us. Again, I'll see if I can't get the Second Darkness Player's Guide fixed so that it follows whatever protocols we use for the rest of the PDFs (which seem to be working fine).
All of that "PDF Standard" stuff is way over my head... but since we use Macs at Paizo, making the PDFs viewable on Macs is indeed important to us. Again, I'll see if I can't get the Second Darkness Player's Guide fixed so that it follows whatever protocols we use for the rest of the PDFs (which seem to be working fine).
Most of the PDFs have glitches when opened in Preview, from non-existing background boxes (in the Gazetteer) to lots of layer boxes that shouldn't be there (from Burnt Offerings on).
That "PDF Standard" stuff can be simplified, given that you seem to be using InDesign CS3. InDesign simplifies PDF compatibility options a great deal:
- Choos File > Export
- In the Export Adobe PDF window select Acrobat 5 (PDF 1.4) in the Compatibility drop-down box.
All of this, of course if whoever at Paizo that is generating the PDFs has the time to do it. I suppose that we, Mac users, can stand opening Adobe Reader from time to time.
I suppose that in one or two releases Apple will catch up with Reader and none of this will be that important two or three years in the future.
Thanks for your help as always.
|
Creative Director
|
All of this, of course if whoever at Paizo that is generating the PDFs has the time to do it. I suppose that we, Mac users, can stand opening Adobe Reader from time to time.
I suppose that in one or two releases Apple will catch up with Reader and none of this will be that important two or three years in the future.
Thanks for your help as always.
It's certainly worth remembering that, in the crazy world of online publishing, we DO sort of have to assume a "baseline" for print. For us, Adobe Acrobat is that baseline; it's the program that is the most commonly used application to read PDFs, and therefore we optimize our PDFs to run on it. Preview may be better and/or faster... but as all Mac users are aware, the majority of the market is PC, and that means that Preview isn't as huge a factor as it perhaps should be.
It's certainly worth remembering that, in the crazy world of online publishing, we DO sort of have to assume a "baseline" for print. For us, Adobe Acrobat is that baseline; it's the program that is the most commonly used application to read PDFs, and therefore we optimize our PDFs to run on it.
Problem is that all my players in the two groups that I play and GM are using Macs and not PCs, so when they open a PDF, Preview is the default app that is opened. Of course that means that my view of the market of computers for RPG gamers is certainly slanted. :)
And I've been opening all the other PDFs I've got from other publishers (Wizards of the Coast, Sword and Sorcery, Mongoose, GDW, FanPro) and all of them are version 1.4 PDFs. The only ones that are giving me problems with Preview are the Pathfinder ones, which are using PDF version 1.6.
So the industry standard seems to be version 1.4. You can see which version each file is using by pressing Command-D while in Adobe Reader, or Command-I in Leopard's Preview.
Preview may be better and/or faster...
It's more a matter of Reader being slow on the Mac... *sigh* Adobe. *sigh*
In the meantime, all my Pathfinder PDF files have been marked to open with Reader instead of with Preview. So it's only a matter of being mildly inconvenient for me, not a no-go.
And James, thanks for being here. Love your work, and hope that my players will do in my next campaign.
|
holy smoke I just downloaded Adobe Reader 9.0 for the Mac.
I am shocked. It runs so fast. The colors are better even. More options and abilities. Down right nice.
I just changed all PDFs to open in Acrobat 9.0 instead of Preview. And that says a lot. Preview was so much faster before. But now Reader wins hands down.
holy smoke I just downloaded Adobe Reader 9.0 for the Mac.
I am shocked. It runs so fast. The colors are better even. More options and abilities. Down right nice.
I just changed all PDFs to open in Acrobat 9.0 instead of Preview. And that says a lot. Preview was so much faster before. But now Reader wins hands down.
Nice to know and bravo for Adobe. I'll wait for the Spanish version before installing it in my home computer, though.
Now I'll just keep filling bugs to Apple so they can get Quartz up to the task.
I did find a work around for making notes.
FIrst you must open the document in Preview. It won't work in Adobe. Go to Print and select save as PDF.
Open the new PDF copy in either Preview or Adobe and you can now make notes.
Krome's workaround is a good one, and one I've used myself from time to time. As advance warning to anyone trying it, though, you should know that doing this will strip the table of contents. If you have call to make extensive notes, though - say, you're converting an adventure to 4th edition or PFRPG - it may be worth the tradeoff.
|
Chief Technical Officer
|
The only ones that are giving me problems with Preview are the Pathfinder ones, which are using PDF version 1.6.
So the industry standard seems to be version 1.4. You can see which version each file is using by pressing Command-D while in Adobe Reader, or Command-I in Leopard's Preview.
That version info—which is saved as a string—actually lies. If you open a PDF that uses the 1.4 library, and do so much as edit a bookmark and resave it, Adobe updates the string, even though it doesn't update anything else. (I'm not sure how to find out the *real* PDF version, but I can tell you that if you really *do* save something as 1.5 or 1.6, then when you open it in an older version of Adobe Reader, it will actually warn you that it might not display properly; if you open one of the "lying" PDFs, though, it doesn't throw up the warning.)
Our PDFs are *supposed* to be using 1.4 (though, again, it's lying about it), but in this case, I think the Second Darkness PDF may have been accidentally produced with version 1.3 as the selected output. I'm looking into it.
|
|
While you are looking, can you see about allowing comments to be added and saved.
It would be so much easier if I could make a comment about a change or something I need to pay special attention to as I was reading the PDF and save right into it. Then when I run the adventure and open the PDF there it is. Or if I print the pages out I can see the comments.
This is obviously not a HUGE deal. Just an idea.
I see you got the e-mail that we've fixed the PDF!
Same here. Looks great, thanks. Did it turn out, as you suspected, to be an older PDF profile rather than a newer profile?
|
|
I see you got the e-mail that we've fixed the PDF!
I sure did, and I was on the new download like stink on a monkey.
I never cease being amazed by the level of customer service that comes from Paizo. Seriously, this was a problem pretty much reserved for the few of us with Macs who didn't want to use Adobe.
|
Chief Technical Officer
|
I see you got the e-mail that we've fixed the PDF!Same here. Looks great, thanks. Did it turn out, as you suspected, to be an older PDF profile rather than a newer profile?
We're not sure how to verify what version the bad one was made with, but the new one was made with the right version. :-)