Publisher Files
How to Archive Publisher Files, Fonts and Images
Create a Publisher archive that preserves originals, readable references, assets and useful notes. Make important publications easier to recover and reuse.
4 min read
27 September 2026
A useful Publisher archive contains more than a folder of PUB files. Preserve the originals, reviewed reference outputs, required artwork and a record of fonts and page settings. Add accepted editable projects where needed, keep an independent backup and test that another person can retrieve the correct version.
Separate preservation from conversion
Preservation keeps the evidence and assets from which future work may be recovered. Conversion creates a new representation. Do the first before the second so a failed conversion does not become your only surviving copy.
Start with a snapshot of the existing folders. Keep names and structure until you understand the relationships. A folder beside a publication may contain the linked photographs that make it useful. Do not remove apparent duplicates during the initial collection; establish which versions are significant first.
Decide what belongs with each publication
The archive should answer who used the document, what it was for and how to reproduce the approved result. For a form, note whether it is obsolete. For a recurring newsletter, identify the current master separately from published issues. Avoid leaving several files called final with no explanation.
- Untouched PUB source and its original path
- Latest approved PDF or other clear reference
- Original photographs, logos and illustrations where available
- Font names and lawful installation or licensing information
- Page size, orientation and fold or print notes
- Accepted native working project if migrated
- Version date, owner and known limitations
Collect linked material while it is still available
A publication can depend on linked images outside the PUB file. Locate the original asset folders where possible. Record missing items before moving the archive to another machine; otherwise you may mistake a missing link for a conversion failure later.
Where you have working Publisher access, Microsoft’s Pack and Go workflow can help gather a publication and linked material for handoff. Font embedding depends on the font and its permissions, and an embedded font is not a general licence to redistribute or install it elsewhere.
Use a structure a colleague can understand
One practical arrangement is a project folder containing Original, Reference, Assets, Working and Notes. Keep exported PDFs in Reference and the accepted editable project in Working. If the archive has many publications, keep a register with a source identifier, title, owner and the paths to those folders.
Use dates or version numbers consistently. For example, a dated approved PDF should point to the corresponding project version in the register. Avoid placing current working files inside a supposedly frozen source archive. That separation makes it clear which files are safe to edit.
Keep a second copy and check it
Use a separate storage location you control for a backup. A second folder on the same failing drive does not protect against loss of that drive. If a cloud service synchronises deletions immediately, understand its version history and recovery limits rather than assuming synchronisation is a complete backup plan.
Test a small restore: retrieve a named publication from the backup, open its reference and locate its assets. Record what you used and when. A backup that has never been read can conceal incomplete transfers or permissions that another team member cannot use.
Archive active masters more thoroughly
An editable master used every week deserves more attention than an obsolete rough draft. Keep a reviewed native project and a short update procedure for active material. For historical work, focus on source preservation, readable references and meaningful indexing.
For a school, the archive may need subject, year group and revision status. For a business, customer or location identifiers may be more useful. Choose labels that help people find the right document without opening every file. Protect any personal information according to your organisation’s normal access rules.
Record the migration result without replacing the source
When a file is imported into RemPress, save the reviewed .rempress project separately. Record deliberate substitutions, missing effects and any reconstructed content. Keep the original PUB file even when the new project is accepted, because it remains evidence of the source design.
If an import is only partly usable, label it as partial. A future user should not have to rediscover missing pages or font substitutions by printing the document. The archive register is the right place to distinguish accepted, reference-only and unresolved material.
Check whether the archive works for someone else
Ask a colleague to find a named publication, identify its approved version and explain what software or process is needed to edit it. If they need your memory to succeed, add the missing note. An archive is useful when its organisation survives the person who created it.
Review active masters when a workflow or application changes. Preserve historical notes rather than rewriting them to imply the original was created in the new system. Clear provenance makes later troubleshooting and reuse much easier.