Troubleshooting — Nixt PDF docs

In the tables below, file names, numbers and server names in messages are examples; the message shows the real ones. Text in italics, such as details, stands for extra information the message adds.

Common problems

A command is dimmed

Undo, Save and most commands are unavailable on a document marked Read only: Nixt PDF could show it but not read it well enough to change it.
Save is dimmed when there are no unsaved changes.
Form commands are dimmed on a document with no form; Save the comments… and Summarise… on one with no comments; Layers… on one with no layers; Save the text…, Web page… and Change text… on one with no text; Delete page on a one-page document; Remove the password on an unprotected document.
The side panel is hidden when the window is narrow. Make the window wider.

Text I add is hard to read

Add text, Tick and the comment tools use the colour chosen in the tool strip, which starts as yellow. Choose Blue or Red before you click.

Search finds nothing

The document is probably a scan: a picture of text. Home › Properties… shows Text: None — this is a scan. Use Protect › Recognise text…; see Scanned documents.

A command says it needs macOS

Recognising text, improving a scan, saving pages as pictures and shrinking pictures use services built into macOS. On other systems, Print opens the document in your system’s PDF viewer instead of printing directly.

Opening documents

Message	What it means	What to do
Cannot open name — That file is no longer where it was. It may have been moved, renamed or deleted.	A recent file has gone.	Open it from its new location with Open a file.
Nixt PDF opens PDFs, and “report.docx” is a document. Nixt Writer is the application for it.	The file is a Word document (or a spreadsheet or presentation — the message names the right app).	Open it in the app named.
Nixt PDF could not read “report.pdf”. It may be damaged or only partly downloaded.	The file couldn’t be read.	Download or copy the file again.
Can’t open this document — This file isn’t a readable PDF. It may have been damaged in transit.	The file is damaged or isn’t really a PDF.	Get a fresh copy.
Can’t open this document — This document couldn’t be opened.	The file couldn’t be opened for another reason.	Get a fresh copy, or open it in other PDF software to check it.
Can’t open this document — Nixt PDF is not allowed to read this file. Save the attachment again and open it from there.	Your system didn’t allow the app to read the file.	Copy the file to a folder such as Documents and open it from there.
Can’t open this document — This file is no longer where Nixt PDF left it. Save the attachment again.	The file was moved or deleted while opening.	Open it again from where it is now.
Can’t open this document — This file couldn’t be read from disk.	The disk couldn’t be read.	Check the drive or network location, and try again.
Can’t open this document — This document is locked, and the password was not accepted.	The password wasn’t accepted.	Open it again and type the password carefully.
Read only badge	The document displays, but Nixt PDF can’t read it well enough to change it.	You can read it and use Save a copy….

For password messages, see Passwords and security.

Making a PDF from pictures

Message	What it means	What to do
Cannot open those pictures — None of them could be read.	No picture could be used.	Choose PNG or JPEG files.
3 of 5 went in. photo.heic did not: Nixt PDF can only put PNG and JPEG pictures into a PDF.	Some pictures couldn’t be used. The first one is named, with the reason.	Convert those pictures to PNG or JPEG, and insert them separately.

Saving and links

Message	What it means	What to do
Couldn’t save this document. It may be open in another app.	The document couldn’t be written.	Use Save a copy… to save it somewhere else.
This link would open something outside a document, so Nixt PDF ignored it.	The link goes to a file, a program or a script.	Nothing: this is deliberate. See the link’s target in Edit › Links….
That link couldn’t be opened.	Your system had nothing to open the address with.	Copy the address from Edit › Links… into your browser.

Reading, selecting and editing

Message	What it means	What to do
Select some text first.	Nothing was selected when you chose a markup command.	Select the words with the Select tool.
That text cannot be changed where it is.	The selected text isn’t on a line Edit text can change.	See Lines that can’t be changed.
The text is at an angle, so it cannot be changed here. (or another reason)	You clicked a line Edit text can’t change.	See the reasons in Editing text.
left 2 alone: part of the replacement is in letters that could not be drawn	No font could draw some of the new letters.	Use different characters.
left 1 alone: the replacement does not fit where the original was	The new words are too long for the line.	Use shorter words.
That text is not on this page.	Change text… found nothing to change.	Check Match capitals and Whole words only, and the page switch.
There is no text in this document to save — it is a scan.	The document has no text.	Recognise the text first.
Nixt PDF couldn’t read any pages out of name	The PDF you tried to insert couldn’t be read, or is password-protected.	Remove its password in Nixt PDF first, save a copy, and insert that.
Those pages could not be taken out of this document.	The pages couldn’t be saved as a new PDF.	Try a smaller range.
That file is too large to carry inside a PDF.	The file to attach is over 64 MB.	Share the file separately.
That attachment could not be read out of this document.	The attached file is damaged.	Ask the sender for the file separately.
There are no comments on this document.	There is nothing to save or summarise.	—

For picture messages, see Pictures on the page. For form messages, see Filling in forms.

Redaction and hidden content

Message	What it means	What to do
This page cannot be redacted safely, so Nixt PDF will not try.	The page is stored in a way redaction can’t handle safely. Nothing was changed.	The words are still there. Consider recreating the page, or removing the page.
The words under that box are drawn from another part of the file, so Nixt PDF cannot remove them from this page and will not pretend to.	Nothing was removed.	The words are still there. Don’t rely on this page being redacted.
There was no text in that area to remove.	The box covered no text — possibly only a picture.	Pictures aren’t removed by redaction.
Redact one page at a time, or use Find and redact to take a word out of every page.	The selection covered more than one page.	Select on one page, or use Find and redact….
Nothing was found to remove.	Find and redact… found nothing.	Check the spelling.
3 could not be removed and are still in the document.	Some occurrences couldn’t be removed safely.	Search for them and deal with those pages.
Nothing was chosen.	Nothing was ticked in Hidden content.	Tick what to take out.
There was nothing of that kind to take out.	What was ticked had already gone.	—
Already as small as Nixt PDF can make it without re-encoding anything.	Make it smaller had nothing to remove.	Try Shrink the pictures anyway… if pictures are most of the size.

Printing and export

The page-range messages are listed in Printing and export.

Message	What it means	What to do
Could not print. or a reason from your system	The system refused the job.	Check the printer in your system settings.
Could not prepare the document for printing: details	A temporary copy couldn’t be written.	Check free disk space.
Opened in your PDF viewer — print from there.	On this system, Nixt PDF prints through your system’s PDF viewer.	Print from the viewer that opened.
Could not open a copy to print: details	There’s no app to open PDFs with.	Save a copy and print it from other software.
Could not print this document.	The copy for printing couldn’t be made.	Save a copy and print it from other software.
Saving pages as pictures needs macOS, which is where Nixt PDF draws them	This command uses a service built into macOS.	—
Nothing could be written. or The pages could not be written	No picture could be saved.	Choose a folder you can write to.
Wrote 11 pictures. Some pages could not be drawn: reason	Some pages failed.	Try those pages again at a lower resolution.
That is more pages than Nixt PDF will write in one go	More than 500 pages.	Save the pages in smaller ranges.

Scanned documents and pictures

Message	What it means	What to do
Reading a scanned page needs macOS, which is where Nixt PDF does it — entirely on this machine, with nothing sent anywhere	Text recognition uses a service built into macOS.	—
There was nothing to recognise.	No page needed recognising.	—
Nothing could be read from that page or That page could not be read	The recogniser found no words.	Improve the scan, choose the right language, and try again.
Could not prepare the document to be read: details	A temporary copy couldn’t be written.	Check free disk space.
Improving a scan needs macOS, which is where Nixt PDF has the filters	This command uses a service built into macOS.	—
There was nothing to improve.	No page qualified.	See Which pages can be improved.
That page has text on it, so it is not a scan — improving it would turn its text into a picture of text	The page isn’t a plain scan.	Nothing to do; this protects the page.
That page is not a single scanned image	The page has several pictures, or none.	—
The picture on that page does not cover it, so replacing it with a corrected page would move it	The scan doesn’t fill the page.	—
Nothing was chosen to be done to it	Every option was off.	Turn on at least one option.
That page could not be improved	The correction failed.	Try with fewer options.
Shrinking pictures needs macOS	This command uses a service built into macOS.	—
The document could not be rewritten	Shrinking couldn’t finish. Nothing was changed.	Try again after Make it smaller.

Stamps and signatures

Message	What it means	What to do
The picture in “Approved by Finance” is no longer in your library, so it goes down without it.	The stamp’s picture was deleted.	Choose a picture on the designer’s Picture tab.
Nixt PDF could not draw some of the letters in that stamp, so it was left as it was.	Some letters couldn’t be drawn.	Change the stamp’s words.
That signature could not be drawn. Make it again from the Sign tool.	The saved signature is damaged.	Make it again and delete the old one.
There are no stamps or signatures to fix to the pages.	Nothing to fix.	—
seal.heic is not a picture Nixt PDF can read.	The picture file couldn’t be opened.	Choose a PNG or JPEG.

For stamp set messages, see Sharing stamp sets.

Signing with a digital ID

For messages when a digital ID won’t open, see Digital IDs. For messages when a document isn’t signed, see Signing.

Trusted timestamps

In these messages, timestamp.example.com stands for the server you typed.

Message	What it means	What to do
That is not the address of a timestamp server	The address isn’t a web address.	Type the full address, starting `http://` or `https://`.
timestamp.example.com did not answer in time	No reply.	Check your connection, or try again later.
timestamp.example.com could not be reached (…)	The server couldn’t be contacted.	Check the address and your connection.
timestamp.example.com answered with HTTP 404 (or another code)	The server returned an error.	Check the address with your timestamp provider.
timestamp.example.com sent back something far too large to be a timestamp	The reply isn’t a timestamp.	Check the address.
timestamp.example.com did not send back a timestamp	The reply wasn’t a timestamp.	Check the address.
timestamp.example.com refused to timestamp it	The server declined, sometimes with a reason.	Contact the timestamp provider.
timestamp.example.com granted a timestamp and did not send it	The reply was incomplete.	Try again.
What timestamp.example.com sent back is not a timestamp token	The reply couldn’t be read.	Check the address.
timestamp.example.com timestamped something other than this signature	The reply doesn’t match.	Try again; use another server if it repeats.
timestamp.example.com answered a different request	The reply doesn’t match.	Try again.
The timestamp from timestamp.example.com is not signed by the key it names	The timestamp failed its check.	Use another timestamp server.
The document changed while the timestamp was being fetched.	You edited the document during signing.	Sign again.
The signature and its timestamp would not fit in the room made for them.	The signature was too large.	Sign again without a timestamp, or with another server.
The document was not signed: details	Something unexpected went wrong.	Try again.

In every case the document is left unsigned. Untick Add a trusted timestamp to sign without one.

Making a digital ID

Message	What it means	What to do
At least eight characters — this password is all that protects the key.	The password is too short.	Use a longer password.
The two passwords are different.	The passwords don’t match.	Type them again.
Not saved. The digital ID has been thrown away — nothing of it was kept.	You cancelled the save dialog.	Click Create and save… again.
The digital ID could not be made (…). Nothing was saved.	Making the key failed.	Try again.
notes.txt is not a certificate Nixt PDF can read.	The file chosen in Trusted certificates isn’t a certificate.	Choose a `.cer`, `.crt` or `.pem` file.

Checking signatures

When a signature shows Cannot be checked, the Signatures dialog says Nixt PDF cannot check this signature because and one of these:

Reason	What it means
its byte range leaves out more of the file than its own signature	The signature doesn’t cover the whole document it claims to. Treat it as broken.
it is a … signature, which Nixt PDF does not read	A signature format Nixt PDF doesn’t check.
its timestamp could not be read	The document timestamp is damaged.
its signature block could not be read	The signature data is damaged or in an unknown form.
it uses a digest Nixt PDF does not implement	An unsupported hash algorithm.
its signed attributes carry no digest	The signature is incomplete.
it could not be checked	Another problem with the signature.

Check such a signature in other software before relying on it.