9.1.356.0 Bug report and warning to users: Optimize PDF can prang compatibility

[chrisjj]

Here (Windows 7 Pro 64-bit), the output of Optimise PDF with default settings https://i.imgur.com/8miNTws.png when viewed in Acrobat X can cause this fail



That line of dots should have been the alphabetic text of the original.

Yet the same output shows fine in PDF-XChange Editor.

Workaround: Change the settings: https://i.imgur.com/K8bRhyb.png

[TrackerSupp-Daniel]

Hi, chrisjj

Thank you for the report, could I ask you to please send us a copy of this document for investigation?

Kind regards,

[chrisjj]

I'd love to but cannot. Content is confidential.

In case it help, it shows fine in Acrobat X.

[Tracker Supp-Stefan]

Hello chrisjj,

Is it the original that shows correctly? As your screenshot with the dots seems to be from Acrobat as well!

If you can find a non confidential file with which you can reproduce the issue - please do send us a copy of that, so that we can investigate this issue further!

Kind regards,
Stefan

[chrisjj]

Yes, it is the original that shows correctly, and yes the screenshot with the dots is from Acrobat.

I've emailed you a less confidential file demoing it, with screenshots.

Thanks.

[Tracker Supp-Stefan]

Hello chrisjj,

Thanks for the file! I will need also the source document (which does not give the same error in Adobe), as well as a screenshot of the exact settings used.

Kind regards,
Stefan

[chrisjj]

A run with with the corresponding source document​ alone does not show the problem. A run with that document 2020-11-12b.pdf in same source set (which I supplied to you by email on Aug 5, none of which show this error in Adobe) and tool as often triggers the "End of Data reached" fail https://forum.tracker-software.com/viewtopic.php?f=70&t=37158&e=1&view=unread#unread , when it doesn't trigger that fail, can trigger this error.

[TrackerSupp-Daniel]

Hello, chrisjj

Do you happen to have any other, less sensitive sample files to share with us that can reproduce this issue? The files from the previous conversation were removed from all devices other than the singular developer who is working on that issue just after we confirmed that he could reproduce the previous issue, so I do not have access to run this test myself.

Kind regards,

[chrisjj]

Sorry, I do not. Are the samples you have insufficient somehow?

[TrackerSupp-Daniel]

Hello, chrisjj

No insufficient, I simply do not have a way to get my hands on them at the moment since they have been deleted everywhere else. I will pass this along to the Developer who is working on the original issue, hopefully he can reproduce this item as well.

Kind regards,

[TrackerSupp-Daniel]

Hello, again

Sorry for the confusion here, I have just finished speaking with the Dev team, and they are fairly certain that this issue has been resolved. The problem was very difficult to reproduce at the time of development, and so there are still some brief tests ongoing to validate this, but the best way to find out would be if you test it on your end again in build 358.0, and let us know if the issue is still present on your side.

Kind regards,

[chrisjj]

Does this new 358.0 build suffer the issue on the demo file I sent you?

[Tracker Supp-Stefan]

Hello chrisjj,

No - we could not reproduce the initially reported issue with your sample file - after optimizing it it still opens perfectly fine in Adobe.

Kind regards,
Stefan

[chrisjj]

No - we could not reproduce the initially reported issue with your sample file

Note: Your Daniel reported otherwise here. "The problem was very difficult to reproduce at the time of development".

[Sean - Tracker]

Hi Chris,

Thanks - if you have no further enquiries for this thread then we can close the discussion here.

Best regards,

[chrisjj]

after optimizing it it still opens perfectly fine in Adobe.

Adobe what?

[Sean - Tracker]

Hi Chris,

It's pretty safe to assume that Stefan meant Adobe Acrobat.

Best regards,

[chrisjj]

Which version?

[Sean - Tracker]

Hi Chris,

If the issue was caused by a bug in a version of PDF-Tools prior to version 358.0, then it should not matter which version of Acrobat is used to view the file, as long as it has been optimized using a version of Tools that is 358.0 or later.

Kind regards,

[chrisjj]

If the issue was caused by a bug in a version of PDF-Tools prior to version 358.0, then it should not matter which version of Acrobat is used to view the file, as long as it has been optimized using a version of Tools that is 358.0 or later.

That presumes PDFXE output behaves uniformly in all Acrobat versions. It doesn't.

[Sean - Tracker]

Hi Chris,

Unfortunately the manner in which documents are opened in various versions of Adobe Acrobat is not something that is under our control. As Stefan has indicated, we could not reproduce the issue you reported with your sample file. After optimization with PDF-Tools, it opens normally in the current version of Adobe Acrobat.

I would suggest updating your version of PDF-Tools and trying again, as it appears from the thread above that this issue has been resolved.

Kind regards,

[chrisjj]

> Unfortunately the manner in which documents are opened in various versions of Adobe Acrobat is not something that is under our control.

Nor is it relevant to this issue.

> As Stefan has indicated, we could not reproduce the issue you reported with your sample file

Since you've yet to ID the version, I'll guess you didn't test on the version specified in the report.

> I would suggest updating your version of PDF-Tools

Thanks, but given the damage caused by the last update, I'll pass.

[Paul - Tracker Supp]

Hi Chris,

if the guys tested in Adobe Reader X or Adobe Professional and it works, that is all we plan to do. We will not make a fix to address a specific version of Adobe failing to render properly. I'm not sure why you say this is not relevant, it works in the versions of Adobe we tested, we are not going to test them all.

Since you've yet to ID the version, I'll guess you didn't test on the version specified in the report.

Correct. We have a ticket related to the error you mentioned here: viewtopic.php?f=70&t=37158&e=1
RT#5684: End of Data Reached when tools saves some files

As I understand it this addresses that issue reported in that version you want us to test. Is this not the same thing? I expect resolving ticket#5684 will also address this.

[chrisjj]

> We will not make a fix to address a specific version of Adobe failing to render properly.

Nothing so far suggests this failure's fault is Adobe's. And as the report shows, this is not just a failure to render properly.

> We have a ticket related to the error you mentioned here: https://forum.tracker-software.com/viewtopic.php?f=70&t=37158&e=1
RT#5684: End of Data Reached when tools saves some files

> As I understand it this addresses that issue reported in that version you want us to test. Is this not the same thing?

The two issues are not at all the same thing.

> I expect resolving ticket#5684 will also address this.

I can't imagine why. I'll wait to hear. Thanks.

[Paul - Tracker Supp]

Right - not that ticket. This discussion has me very confused I am afraid to say.

Daniel reported back in November:

I have just finished speaking with the Dev team, and they are fairly certain that this issue has been resolved.

That was supposed to have been in 358. Now I see you have said you will not do any more updates, what version are you running then? Are you using 358 or newer and the issue was not resolved?

You say it is not a simple rendering issue. Can we try again here please? As I understand it you have a PDF that does not display properly in a specific version of Adobe. Can you please humour me and provide that PDF again as well as the version of Adobe we should be testing? If I understand you properly, and I probably don't, this should be as simple as here is the file, here is the version of Adobe in which it isn't right.

I want to start this again because all the previous discussion has only confused the matter to me. Is it as simple as I stated above? File X doesn't work with Adobe version Y?

[chrisjj]

> Now I see you have said you will not do any more updates

I didn't. I said I'd pass on "I would suggest updating your version of PDF-Tools" - where I've seen nothing to suggest it will remedy the issue.

> what version are you running then?

359 for now.

> ... and the issue was not resolved?

Unknown. I might know when I return to that project.

> You say it is not a simple rendering issue. Can we try again here please? As I understand it you have a PDF that does not display properly in a specific version of Adobe.

More than one - all created by PDF Tools.

> Can you please humour me and provide that PDF again

As I said Fri Aug 06, 2021 10:00 pm, you have it in email.

> as well as the version of Adobe we should be testing?

As I said Acrobat X.

> I want to start this again because all the previous discussion has only confused the matter to me.

If you read just my posts above, I think all will be clear.

[Paul - Tracker Supp]

Hi Chris,
well I don't have it in an email, for whatever reason the only emails with attachments from you I can find are your purchase invoices, so with the best will in the world I cannot check it on Adobe X. if you want this checked out please send a sample file again.

> ... and the issue was not resolved?

Unknown. I might know when I return to that project.

Please raise this subject again when you do return to the project and can tell us if it is still an issue.

[chrisjj]

> well I don't have it in an email

It was sent to "Paul D. O'Rorke" <support@tracker-software.com>.

Acknowledged three days later by Stefan Dzhukelov <support@tracker-software.com>.

I've sent a copy to "Paul D. O'Rorke" <support@tracker-software.com>.

Thanks.

[Paul - Tracker Supp]

Thanks Chris,
I don't have Acrobat X and need to pass this on to someone who does to test.
I'll post here what comes.

[Paul - Tracker Supp]

Hi Chris,

the development team leader took a look at this and he is asking if you still have access to both the original page 2 and the tool that you used on PDF-Tools that caused the problem.

It seems the issue may be related to a specific image and that if you can provide the above it will help.

regards

[Paul - Tracker Supp]

Hi Chris,

on doing a more in depth investigation our development team leader tells me that the problematic image was definitely not saved by PDF-Tools.

You have out top guy's word on this, the issue in the provided PDF that is apparent in Acrobat X was not caused by PDF-Tools.

I hope that helps.

[chrisjj]

In email Paul wrote:

> Can you send us original document, or at least screenshot what supposed to be on that page #2 please? It would also be helpful if you can export and send us the tool that you used that caused this.

On forum Paul wrote:

> on doing a more in depth investigation our development team leader tells me that the problematic image was definitely not saved by PDF-Tools.

I don't know what "problematic image" you're referring to.

My report is about a problematic PDF, the properties of which confirms was created by PDF-Tools:

image.png (5.04 KiB) Viewed 1045 times

[TrackerSupp-Daniel]

Hello, chrisjj

The problematic image refers to the only error which the current version of Adobe provided us with when viewing that file. All text is perfectly present with the only exception being the information you removed from page 2.

As we have said before, we cannot be expected to, nor do we have any intent to, make changes to our software to account for a failing in a competitors software which even they are no longer supporting. As this entire error is based on he fact that Adobe Acrobat X is the only application showing any issue with the generated file, we cannot offer any further assistance. You may try contacting Adobe to ask them why their dated application is not rendering this text properly, perhaps they can inform you of a solution.

Kind regards,

[chrisjj]

we cannot be expected to, nor do we have any intent to, make changes to our software to account for a failing in a competitors software

For the record, you've not shown this is a failing in Adobe's software.

Of all the PDF creators responsible for the many PDFs I view with Adobe software, the only one producing PDFs showing this fail is your product.

[TrackerSupp-Daniel]

Hello, chrisjj

With the best will in the world, we have provided all that we can for this case. You are using a severely (7 years now) outdated/discontinued version of Adobe's software and seeing an issue there. There are solutions, including updating to a newer version of their software. Much like we ourselves will not offer bugfixes for our now 10+ years out of date Viewer, and would suggest that you simply update to the current release of the Editor if you found a bug in there, I am doing the same here with regards to Adobe's product.

We create these files following modern PDF standards, and in some cases older software will not understand those new standards. The fact that other applications are used before you encounter this issue does not indicate we are the cause, it only indicates that Adobe's outdated software does not understand the new standards, as our investigation found back in October.

Kind regards,

[chrisjj]

I would suggest that you simply update to the current release of the Editor if you found a bug in there

There's nothing simple about upgrading your products. It was an "upgrade" to fix another bug in your product that caused this problem. And update which your firm falsely claimed to me was needed for security in a library you used which broke compatibility.

I am doing the same here with regards to Adobe's product.

...except you've failed to demonstrate any bug in Adobe's product here.

We create these files following modern PDF standards

And there was me thinking you were respecting the PDF format standardised in 1992 and respected by the entire industry. But now I check your features list https://pdf-xchange.eu/pdf-xchange-editor/feature-list.htm I find I was mistaken.

Thanks for the warning.

in some cases older software will not understand those new standards

If you were seriously claiming this fail is due to a new PDF standard, I'm sure you'd identify that standard.

we have provided all that we can for this case.

That's very clear.

Thanks anyway.

[TrackerSupp-Daniel]