I want to start out by saying that I don't think this is necessarily a problem that falls on Paizo to solve, but I do have a problem, and if I don't comment, then all I do is help guarantee that the problem never gets solved. And, for me, it's a big enough problem that I'm on the verge of cancelling all of my 2nd Edition Pathfinder subscriptions, so I feel I really ought to shine a light on it.
The issue is that I run my games using VTTs, so the quality of Paizo's art and maps and the ease with which I can extract it from the PDFs has always been a MAJOR selling point for me -- not just to run those adventures but also to build a visual archive to enhance the *rest* of the Golarion games I run.
But now, without any clear cause, that's all come to a stop with the PF2E line. I used to use an old version of Adobe Acrobat, which was fine, but over the years slowly lost the ability to keep up. But then I switched to a program called PDF Candy Desktop, which was/is absolutely great for this purpose. I'm naming the specific software so anyone who cares to can test this themselves.
When attempting to extract images from PF2E PDFs, without fail, the program works perfectly at first, but then hits *something* a few pages in that causes it to hang, making it impossible to continue. The "few pages in" varies from one PDF to the next but is always consistent within each individual PDF.
Switching from "one file" to "one file per chapter" doesn't work to bypass the issue. First off, it isn't always an option, and secondly, the problem just reoccurs--get a few pages in, then freeze and can't grab anything past that.
I'm going to use Pathfinder Adventures 151 (Extinction Curse #1) as a specific example, but this problem has been absolutely consistent with every PF2E product I've purchased -- Core Rulebook, Bestiary, and all of the adventure path books. Only the Extinction Curse Player's Guide worked fine, and I suspect that's because it's so short it may have escaped whatever formatting issue is causing this behind the scenes.
Here's a breakdown.
Extracting images from the entire book as one file: The program extracts images through page 7, then hangs.
Extracting images from each chapter as its own file:
000 Front Cover: Works A-OK
001 Frontmatter: Works A-OK
002-015: Chapter 1: Extracts images through page 7, then hangs.
016-031: Chapter 2: PDF Candy Desktop hangs (and has to be shut down via the Task Manager) whenever I try to open this file.
032-045: Chapter 3: Works through page 35, then hangs.
046-057: Chapter 4: Works through page 49, then hangs.
058-069: Life in the Circus: Works through page 64, then hangs.
070-091: Toolbox: Works through page 73, then hangs.
092-096: Backmatter: A-OK (that's always a crazy mess of tiny files anyway, but not a problem)
100: Back Cover: A-OK
Importantly, I have *not* encountered any hint of this problem with any PF1 or Starfinder PDFs--including SF PDFs being produced concurrently with PF2E. (SF AP #12 had problems with its image files, but that's a separate issue and didn't become a recurring problem.)
Of course, I can still go through the PDFs in Acrobat Reader and individually grab each image, but that's a slower process that generally results in a huge loss of quality for any art that incorporates masking layers (i.e. anything but maps and half- and full-page illos).
I suspect there's something hidden in the formatting of the PF2E overall layout design that's choking this program. But, not being able to examine those PF2E files myself, that's as far as my diagnosis can go.
I really hope I don't come off as angrily slamming my fist on the table and demanding fixes from Paizo here, but the truth is these files have lost their main utility for me, so like I said, I'm on the verge of cancelling my PF2E subscriptions here. And who knows, maybe someone else out there is having the same problem.
Hi John Mangrum!
Thank you so much for your patience, as we're working through a significant backlog. I've notified our tech team just now, and am going to move this to the website feedback forum, where they will be able to access it.
- Virginia
Great. Thanks!