PDF weirdness from current Nightly

• Dec 21, 2014 - 21:58

This was saved in and exported from the 12/21 build 80a58a9. I see problems with fonts (including FreeSerif where Dynamics are concerned), the Ped. symbol (created using customized Lines), and Arpeggio symbol.

[Edit: I'm removing my original files given that cadiz1 has created and posted test files that illustrate the same exact problem I'm reporting here.]

Comments

• Dec 21, 2014 - 22:47

Are you on Windows? If so, were you seeing that PDF exported was more or less completely useless recently (most music symbols too small) *until* this build? A change was made to fix that, but perhaps it had a side effect. I don't have the fonts you are apparently using, so I can't reproduce what you are seeing directly, but FWIW, a PDF export of your score on my Ubuntu system looks the same as it does within MuseScore.

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• Dec 21, 2014 - 23:10

I have not looked at everything in detail, but I see primarily a problem with the arpeggio symbol at the end of the score, and the dynamic mark (pp in this location) indeed too.
- Nigthly on December 15: correct.
december 15.jpg
- On the lastest Nightly (today), the symbol is broken into several pieces.
I use Windows7 and the score is opened with Acrobat Reader Pro 8.
arpeggio .jpg

Attachment Size
december 15.jpg 23.61 KB
arpeggio .jpg 23.54 KB

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• Dec 21, 2014 - 23:48

I did a very quickly test, and not examined all in detail. Confirmed alas.
Problems with wavy lines (arpeggio, trill line, glissandi etc.), and with the dynamics marks: smaller and discarded. Mscz file here: test pdf.mscz

test pdf3.jpg

Unfortunately, I think we're going to open (not by me, it's getting late) a new issue for that, related to: http://musescore.org/fr/node/40646

Attachment Size
test pdf.mscz 9.75 KB
test pdf3.jpg 71.54 KB

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• Dec 22, 2014 - 18:27

I infer from the bug report in the issue tracker that this problem won't be fixed in time for the release of Beta 2. Is there a recommended workaround, i.e., an alternative for creation of PDF files, other than the program mentioned in the issue tracker thread called PDF Creator? I'm hesitant to install it, as reviews are very mixed and there is a significant consensus that it is (or, at least, contains) malware. (Google Chrome rejected the download for this reason, FWIW.)

Have alternative programs for PDF creation been discussed in the forums? I never had a problem until now with exporting to PDF (or Saving As PDF in 1.3), so I haven't kept up with this topic. However, the present problem with exporting to PDF has made using MuseScore impossible for me in builds from 12-21 onwards. Fortunately, I have only one single file saved in that format - which I cannot open in the earlier Nightlies.

I don't wish to overexaggerate this issue, but, for me, MuseScore is useless without the ability to export to PDF with a result that looks as it should. I believe that the severity of the present bug warrants an upgrade from Major importance to Critical - and that Windows users should be appropriately warned that if they save a file in MuseScore's present format, they will *not* be able to open it again in one of the earlier Nightlies from which a correct PDF could be exported.

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• Dec 22, 2014 - 18:47

My question for you, though, is when was the last build you *tried* to do PDF export in? There was a significant bug in PDF export (caused by a the version of Qt we were using) that has been present for the better part of a year, but it only affected certain symbols, like the note glyphs within tempo markings (eg, quarter note = 120). This bug was fixed in Qt 5.4, which we started for using for nightly builds "recently", but I'm not sure *exactly* when. Unfortunately, Qt 5.4 introduced a *much worse* bug where *all* musical symbols came out tiny (notes, clefs, etc). It may be that it is our own workaround for that critical Qt bug that is causing the glitches in a few symbols that you are seeing here, or it might be that our workaround is simply not working for these symbols. That's why I'm asking you if you can ascertain the most recent nightly build that you can verify was free from any noticeable PDF problems. My guess is, that build would be pre-Qt 5.4, meaning it still suffered the significant bug with note symbols in tempo markings (and other symbols added from Bravura or Gonville, I think), but you simply werenm't using any of those symbols or failed to notice the issue (symbols shifted too far left, as I recall).

It's possible the rest of the team has all the information they need to proceed, but since you seem to be seeing something different from everyone else - everyone else saw serious issues with PDF export (the quarter note / Bravura issue) all year long, and saw completely unusable results when that bug was fixed a week or so ago. My guess is, you are not really seeing anything different, but you simply never noticed the quarter note / Bravura issue or tried any of the builds that were *completely* broken with respect to PDF epxort on Windows.

Anyhow, it is indeed unfortunate that we are at the mercy of Qt here.

Meanwhile, I have used PDF Creator for years on Windows with no issues. Also a variety of other free PDF drivers. They aren't hard to come by. Up through the last version of Finale I used, this was the only way to get PDF at all.

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• Dec 22, 2014 - 19:44

With respect, Jojo-Schmitz, I believe you are understating the problem - just as you did in the Issue Tracker when you claimed that the dynamics were 'not really failing'. I agree with cadiz1 that 'we can consider the display as failed' - and the same is true for 'Ped.' sign. Fonts are affected, too.

I don't know what 'only will triple' means - but I would remark upon an unfortunate tendency I've noticed here for people to minimize problems that don't affect them directly. The number of scores you have that are not affected really isn't relevant, which I hope, upon reflection, you will understand.

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• Dec 22, 2014 - 19:53

Everything was fine for me as regards PDF Export up to and including the 12-15 Nightly 084c1d8.

I can't speak to versions of Qt, as I haven't paid attention - but you are correct that I would not have noticed issues with note symbols in tempo markings (I don't use them) or symbols from Bravura (I don't use them so far as I'm aware).

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• Dec 22, 2014 - 19:56

OK, that must have been just before the switch to Qt 5.4 that broke PDF export completely on Windows. Had you tried a nightly build during the intervening week, you'd have been pretty horrified - see #40646: [Windows] Exported PDF displays small symbols on Qt 5.4.0.

Anyhow, as you'll see from that report, it's been a known issue since the workaround was implemented that wavy lines still don't work correctly. Dynamics, though, are another matter - this apparently was only just noticed, since the issue is relatively subtle. Unfortunately, it may or may not be possible to resolve that for the Beta 2 release. Ideally, we'd get an updated Qt build and simply use that, but I guess that's just not happening any time time. So on Windows only, it may be necessary to use a third party PDF program for a little while until we get a usable Qt 5.4.1 build.

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