Preview Images missing

When I preview in FP Desktop I don't see any of my placed images (pdf's and bitmap tifs), but when I compose the file to pdf they are all there. I've checked and re-checked the images themselves and can't find anything wrong. This is a big series and 95% of the files I'm working on are fine, but not all. All of the files are the same file types produced the same way. Anyone have a solution or has seen this before? :eek:

Adobe Acrobat Pro v10.1.1

System Software Overview:

System Version: Mac OS X 10.6.8 (10K549)

Kernel Version: Darwin 10.8.0

Boot Volume: Macintosh HD

Boot Mode: Normal

Computer Name: Prep1

User Name: George (george)

Secure Virtual Memory: Not Enabled

64-bit Kernel and Extensions: No

Time since boot: 8:06

Model Name: Mac Pro

Model Identifier: MacPro1,1

Processor Name: Dual-Core Intel Xeon

Processor Speed: 2.66 GHz

Number Of Processors: 2

Total Number Of Cores: 4

L2 Cache (per processor): 4 MB

Memory: 6 GB

Bus Speed: 1.33 GHz

Boot ROM Version: MP11.005C.B08

SMC Version (system): 1.7f10

This is the 2nd time I have seen this happen. Oddly enough I used the pdf as a template and copied it to another folder where I had to relink the resource images and then the previews worked (Before you ask, I tried to relink the images in the copied pdf even tho it said they were there and it didn't work). This makes me think that if I send you the file and you link to the images you won't see the problem. I'm thinking it might be better for me to share my desktop with you so you can see for yourself what it is doing. :confused:

FusionPro Desktop 7.2P1d

Linking this thread with a similar one here.

I had this issue when I installed the current version of FP and it happened to me once before. The only two options that worked for me were to either add a search path to the composition/advanced dialog (which I've never had to do before) or recreate the template.

Linking this thread with a similar one here.

 

I had this issue when I installed the current version of FP and it happened to me once before. The only two options that worked for me were to either add a search path to the composition/advanced dialog (which I've never had to do before) or recreate the template.

Thanks for that link. What exactly is the path that you're entering into the Composition Settings dialog? Is it the same location as the template PDF itself, or somewhere else? I'm wondering if it's some kind of HFS vs. POSIX path confusion, since it appears to be a Mac-specific issue. Anyway, collecting up the job would still be useful even if the problem can't be directly reproduced.

This is the 2nd time I have seen this happen. Oddly enough I used the pdf as a template and copied it to another folder where I had to relink the resource images and then the previews worked (Before you ask, I tried to relink the images in the copied pdf even tho it said they were there and it didn't work). This makes me think that if I send you the file and you link to the images you won't see the problem. I'm thinking it might be better for me to share my desktop with you so you can see for yourself what it is doing. :confused:

 

FusionPro Desktop 7.2P1d

Thanks for the additional information. It does seem like a Mac-specific issue.

I'll ask you the same question I asked Eric: Where exactly are the graphic resources in relation to the template PDF?

If you collect up the job and then extract the Zip file somewhere else and Preview, does it still have the same problem? Either way, please go ahead and post the Zip file here. Even if I can't reproduce the problem directly, the files may still have a clue.

Our typical file management looks like:

Job Folder

--- _graphics

------ (graphic resources)

--- _variable

------ FP template.pdf

HOWEVER, the template I am uploading actually has the resource added in the "Edit Resources" dialog and still doesn't preview if the Advanced/Search Path field is empty (see screen shots of template file with preview on and composed output). If I add "../_graphics" to the Search Path, my preview works correctly.

Keep in mind that this is a template I created in an older version of FP (7.0P1d). If I create a new template in 7.2P1k, I do not have this problem (at least not that I have noticed).

sample.zip

Our typical file management looks like:

 

Job Folder

--- _graphics

------ (graphic resources)

--- _variable

------ FP template.pdf

 

HOWEVER, the template I am uploading actually has the resource added in the "Edit Resources" dialog and still doesn't preview if the Advanced/Search Path field is empty (see screen shots of template file with preview on and composed output). If I add "../_graphics" to the Search Path, my preview works correctly.

 

Keep in mind that this is a template I created in an older version of FP (7.0P1d). If I create a new template in 7.2P1k, I do not have this problem (at least not that I have noticed).

Thanks. Is the job on a mounted network drive? It seems that the input file is, at least, from this entry in the .def file:

      FileName = "/Volumes/jobs/_restricted/cg_portal/xml/lowes/gaprc/_data/sample_data.csv" 

Do you have the problem if everything is on the local hard drive?

Thanks. Is the job on a mounted network drive?

Yes.

Do you have the problem if everything is on the local hard drive?

I haven't tried that although even if it worked, we would still prefer to work off the server which worked fine until recently.

The only other oddity (that has been a problem since we first purchased FP (4.2?) is that when working off the server (Linux), template file names MUST be all lowercase or the composition will err out. We know immediately that is the problem when the error message we get claims that "template.pdf" could not be located even though the file is named "Template.pdf". Of course, we are in the habit of naming everything in lowercase anyway so that's not a big deal...

I haven't tried that although even if it worked, we would still prefer to work off the server which worked fine until recently.

Of course. Obviously you should be able to work from network drives. I'm just trying to get more clues about what triggers the problem.

The only other oddity (that has been a problem since we first purchased FP (4.2?) is that when working off the server (Linux), template file names MUST be all lowercase or the composition will err out. We know immediately that is the problem when the error message we get claims that "template.pdf" could not be located even though the file is named "Template.pdf". Of course, we are in the habit of naming everything in lowercase anyway so that's not a big deal...

Ah, thanks, that's a good clue as well. It seems to point towards an issue with conversion between HFS and POSIX paths.

You don't, by any chance, happen to have multiple volumes with the same name mounted, do you? Like two different servers whose names show up as "jobs" in the Finder? This can confuse the HFS file path specifications which the FusionPro app uses "under the covers." (We're working on ridding ourselves of the last vestiges of HFS paths and PowerPC code as part of the work to port FusionPro to the Intel-only world of Lion, so this problem might just go away with HFS in the next version.)

Case sensitivity also comes into play when connecting to remote file servers which allow case-sensitive file names, even though Windows and Mac OS X do not (by default). Is the server using HFS Plus? How are you connecting to it? Exactly what do you type into the Connect to Server box?

Of course. Obviously you should be able to work from network drives. I'm just trying to get more clues about what triggers the problem.

I tried working from my desktop and previews worked fine without the need to add a path on the Advanced tab.

You don't, by any chance, happen to have multiple volumes with the same name mounted, do you? Like two different servers whose names show up as "jobs" in the Finder?

Ha! We used to have this issue (what was IT thinking?) but we have resolved it by changing share names.

Case sensitivity also comes into play when connecting to remote file servers which allow case-sensitive file names, even though Windows and Mac OS X do not (by default). Is the server using HFS Plus? How are you connecting to it? Exactly what do you type into the Connect to Server box?

We connect to a Linux server with AFP (afp://cltfiles/jobs). The server is formatted with an XFS file system.

We connect to a Linux server with AFP (afp://cltfiles/jobs). The server is formatted with an XFS file system.

Ah, now we're honing in on the problem. To be honest, we haven't used AFP here in years, since OS X 10.4 Tiger improved support for Samba (SMB), which interoperates better with our Windows-based network. I wonder if anyone else (such as ThePorge) who's seeing similar problems is using AFP. Can you use Samba (shares starting with "smb://") instead of Apple File Protocol (AFP) shares?

Of course, I'm not trying to place all the blame with AFP, because you should be able to connect to and work from those servers with FusionPro. But I can see how our mixed HFS/POSIX codebase might have issues with it. So, like I said, this problem might go away with FusionPro 8, which will be built entirely upon BSD libraries which "speak" in POSIX paths. However, issues with case-sensitivity might be harder to solve; that's more up to the protocol itself (AFP) to deal with.

Ah, now we're honing in on the problem. To be honest, we haven't used AFP here in years, since OS X 10.4 Tiger improved support for Samba (SMB), which interoperates better with our Windows-based network.

I know we can connect to the server using Samba, but I think we use AFP from the Macs for production for a specific reason. I will confirm that with our IT department, but what changed from 7.0 to 7.2? Previews were working fine until that update using AFP the whole time...

I know we can connect to the server using Samba, but I think we use AFP from the Macs for production for a specific reason. I will confirm that with our IT department, but what changed from 7.0 to 7.2? Previews were working fine until that update using AFP the whole time...

I don't think anything changed in FusionPro which would be relevant to this issue. Your other thread seems to indicate that you were having problems with earlier versions of FusionPro, prior to 7.x, as well. If something changed, it's probably your network, or just the conditions of what servers your Mac was connected to at the time, which got things into a particular state which triggered the problem. These kinds of intermittent, environment-specific issues are always the hardest to diagnose.