PDF import behaving strangely

[The Alien]

Hmm...then I have no idea where to begin in order to fix this. Maybe I'll try a reinstall tomorrow.

[jaydear]

Are the troublesome pdfs password protected?

[The Alien]

No, they're just randomly picked with no password protection.

A little update: apparently, when I recently updated my program it installed XDP X version 19 alongside of version 18. This is what I'm seeing in C:\Program Files\Xara\Xara Designer Pro X. Not sure if this is intended. I'll try uninstalling both.

[The Alien]

Well, reinstalling didn't help.

[jaydear]

If you are getting an HTML placeholder in XDPX it seems to me that you're trying to import/open a pdf into a web page you're designing. Have you tried opening a pdf in an new, empty project?

[The Alien]

I've tried importing a PDF with no project open and I'm still getting the HTML placeholder.
Also tried importing a PDF into every kind of template. I'm baffled that this only affects me.

Some more findings, this time regarding PDF export.
If I make a blank drawing with a basic shape and try File > Export... I have no option in the list to export as PDF. If I go File > Export PDF... I can fill in a file name, but Save as type is an empty list. Clicking Export does nothing. Clicking Settings... does nothing either. Clicking Cancel after having clicked Export prompts an error: "Internal program error 5107.w.fi.gs"
I found another thread with this error message where running the program as admin fixed the problem. I tried that once again, but it didn't work for me. I get the same error message.

[handrawn]

something has block/corrupted the PDF libraries/routines that xara needs to import/export PDF files would be my guess

do you have other programs that import/export PDF and do they work?