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TCBill
Inspiring
December 28, 2023
Answered

Can't create PDF if FM file has referenced .psd file

  • December 28, 2023
  • 4 replies
  • 1112 views

I ran across a peculiarity while I was trying to export a couple of  two-page FM files to PDF. In each FM file, one page was blank and the other had a full-page Photoshop .psd graphic. (These are the front and back covers of a book .) No matter how I tried to create the PDF (Save As PDF, Print to PDF), the routine would hang on the page with the graphic and I had to go into the task manager and kill FM. The .psd files were imported by reference and were reasonably large, as one would expect of full-page Photoshop graphics with layers. (One was 66 MB, the other was 48 MB.) 

After spending a good bit of time trying to force FM to make PDFs of these two files, I relented and went back into into Photoshop,  exported the graphics to .jpg files, and then reimported them into FM. Shazam, FM was able to make PDFs of these new files.

 

Does anyone know why this is happening? 

 

Thanks in advance!

 

 

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer TCBill

Hi, @TCBill ,

"... after three or four minutes I got the "FrameMaker not responding" ..."

3 or 4 minutes is not long.

The process can take up to 30 minutes or longer depending on the complexity of the document, the graphics (and PSD with layers is complex for FM) and so on.

And the message "FrameMaker not responding" tells you only that Windows is "thinking" that FM is not responding.

That is mostly not true as FM (or a subroutine) is just heavily working on the PDF job.

In such cases I am waiting at least 30-60 minutes before killing the FM task.

Regards

Stephan


Ah, the mysteries of life... This morning I went into FM to try to import the PSD files again, this time prepared to wait the 30-60 minutes you suggested. After I removed the JPGs I had used as placeholder graphics, the PSD files imported perfectly and in the blink of an eye. I am at a loss to explain how or why it happened this way today, but I am not about to look a gift horse in the mouth.

 

Thank you for your help and input on this.

 

Cheers,

Bill

4 replies

M
Community Expert
mk-willCommunity Expert
Community Expert
December 30, 2023

Hi, @TCBill ,

"... the routine would hang on the page with the graphic ..."

how do you know that FM is hanging?

How long did you wait before killing the FM task?

A PSD with layers can be very complex and therefor the PDF export can take a long time to finish.

 

As @Bob_Niland already wrote it is a better way to export Photoshop graphics to TIF or JPG and place these in FM.

 

Regards

Stephan

T
TCBillAuthor
Inspiring
December 31, 2023

All I can say is that things stopped happening and after three or four minutes I got the "FrameMaker not responding" message at the top of the screen. That's when I killed the task.

I understand that doing a TIFF or a JPG is an easier way to accomplish this end. However, as I explained earlier in the thread, my goal is to preserve all source files in the FrameMaker package for future use. I don't want someone in the future to have to chase down a PSD file when it comes time to change this book's cover.

M
Community Expert
mk-willCommunity Expert
Community Expert
January 2, 2024

Hi, @TCBill ,

"... after three or four minutes I got the "FrameMaker not responding" ..."

3 or 4 minutes is not long.

The process can take up to 30 minutes or longer depending on the complexity of the document, the graphics (and PSD with layers is complex for FM) and so on.

And the message "FrameMaker not responding" tells you only that Windows is "thinking" that FM is not responding.

That is mostly not true as FM (or a subroutine) is just heavily working on the PDF job.

In such cases I am waiting at least 30-60 minutes before killing the FM task.

Regards

Stephan

Bob_Niland
Community Expert
Bob_NilandCommunity Expert
Community Expert
December 29, 2023

Saving (the image) to PDF (without: preserve Ps edit) might be worth a try.

Bob_Niland
Community Expert
Bob_NilandCommunity Expert
Community Expert
December 29, 2023

At the risk of drifting the thread, I've always been surprised that:
a. FM sort of supports import of .psd & .ai files, and
b. that FM authors use the feature.

PSD and AI files can contain huge stacks of layers, containing rasters, vectors, text, objects, and operations (adjustments, masks, etc.). FM cannot itself perform the compositing that Photoshop and Illustrator do, so there must also be a composited meta image in the file for other apps to use (any thumbnail also present being too coarse for publication).

But even so, importing a .psd or .ai hauls in the whole file, and they can be needlessly huge.

So it's always been my practice to save off a single-layer working copy in some format more optimal for both FM and the workflow targets.

    T
    TCBillAuthor
    Inspiring
    December 29, 2023

    Hi Bob,
    All of your points make good sense. The reason I am trying to use the .psd file is that these documents are "living"... sometime in the future somebody (I hope it is I) will have to go in and edit them and I don't want the original source file to disappear. By putting the source .psd in the same directory path as all the rest of the graphics and using it in FM, I am reasonably assured that the FM Package option will keep everything together for future use. If I use an alternate file type such as *.jpg in the FM, I run the risk of having the original .psd file get lost somewhere on the network. 

    Barb Binder
    Community Expert
    Barb BinderCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    December 28, 2023

    Haha, thanks, Those are the Great Sand Dunes in Colorado. Definitely worth a visit. My kids brought their old skis along and skied down the first time we visited!

     

    OK so I updated to 17.0.3 and added a second image to the same file (the new one is 85 MB), and it still exported just fine. 

     

    Next question: which job options file (aka Preset Name) are you using? Can you share a screen shot of your PDF Publish Settings (Publish pod > Change Settings > Edit)—that will show it.

     

    And if you're using Photoshop with large files, I assume you're not on an under-powered computer? Exporting a PSD to JPEG is going to drastically reduce the file size so I wonder if Fm is hitting a RAM limitation during export? (FWIW, I'm Win 11, 16 GB RAM (which is not a lot), 1T (with 764 GB free).

     

    ~Barb

    ~Barb at Rocky Mountain Training
    T
    TCBillAuthor
    Inspiring
    December 29, 2023

    Hi Barb,

    Here is my PDF settings screen:

     I don't think my computer is underpowered; it's Win11, 32 MB RAM, 475 GB HDD, 298 GB free .

     

    Thanks,

    Bill

      Jeff_Coatsworth
      Community Expert
      Jeff_CoatsworthCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      December 29, 2023

      Perfect - now I think Barb wants to see how "High Quality Print" is defined - I think the "..." button beside it reveals the settings.

        Barb Binder
        Community Expert
        Barb BinderCommunity Expert
        Community Expert
        December 28, 2023

        Hi Bill:

         

        I'm not sure. The clip below uses a 68 MB .psd and it converts to PDF as expected (and this is a regular part of my workflow). What version of Photoshop and what version of FrameMaker? (Recorded using Fm 17.0.2.431 and Ps 25.3.1)

         

        ~Barb

         

         

         

        ~Barb at Rocky Mountain Training
        T
        TCBillAuthor
        Inspiring
        December 28, 2023

        Hi Barb,

        How kind you are to make a home movie of your steps! (And I love the picture you used as an example.) I am using Photoshop 25.3.1 and FrameMaker 17.0.3. 

         

        Bill

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