Illustrator running EXTREMELY slowly on a moderate file size

Question

I'm trying to create two large files in Illustrator

File 1 : 500MB, many linked files (photographs), running fine, can save as both .ai and .pdf easily

File 2 : ~150MB, lots of linked files (>30), constantly complains it is running out of memory, taking ~10minutes to save, very slow/laggy to move items around.

I include the details of File 1 because it is running fine, so I don't think that it is a system problem. FYI I'm running a late 2013 Mac, 8GB RAM, 1600MHz. CS6 Illustrator.

Does anyone have any idea what the problem may be? It doesn't appear to be the system, not a file size issue because the largest file is working fine. It's taken me all day to insert 3 figures! Can provide further information if needed.

Mike_Gondek10189183 · Answer

Those are not moderate file sizes, you must be saving with the default of pdf compatible on.

Do a save as and follow what I have checked below. They we can look at your file construction and see if for example you have

large amount of vector points (eg.: >10,000)
file format of your linked images
corruption font or image, or excessively large image
filename with a colon or backslash.

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