Problems making a PDF from Indesign CS5

MatthewLaun

Adobe Employee

It's true, we have a known issue with PDF export when a right-aligned leader tab is followed by a left-aligned tab. This issue is tracked as issue #2763525. If you wish to put in your vote for it's fix, submit a report referencing that issue number in our bug report form:

https://www.adobe.com/cfusion/mmform/index.cfm?name=wishform

The issue is documented with the only current workaround here:

http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/885/cpsid_88589.html

Matthew

Morten Agertoft

Participant

Hello

Is there any one who have problem with exporting to PDF that is using the Font Activation plugin from Extensis Universal Type Client?

I've tested some documents which will not export to PDF. When I remove the Font Activation plugin it does.

Peter Spier

Community Expert

Suitcase font activation plugins are frequently implicated in problems like this.

N

noldo9

Participating Frequently

I am suddenly discovering this problem in ID CS5. Not only am I having "failed" PDFs, but when I do succeed in getting a single page exported, I find that the Tab settings have not been read correctly and they are all over the place.

This is a file that was previously built in ID CS4 and exported correctly. Can I get it back into that version of ID?

I am on an iMac 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo running OS 10.6.5. All Adobe CS5 apps have been updated to current versions.

I tried turning off Preflight, but that has not really helped. It seems that there are perhaps some issues with the file itself now since the tab issue has arisen.

I am not getting any crashes of ID or Acrobat. Just failures to export and the messed up tabs.

Any help yet? How can I put this document back into CS4 where it works properly?

Peter Spier

Community Expert

Export to .idml. That will open in both CS5 and CS4. I would try opening in CS5 first and see if it clears up the export problems before going back to CS4.

N

noldo9

Participating Frequently

Thanks Peter. I did try it in CS5 after exporting to .idml (very happy that option is there) but the export to PDF still failed. Opening the file in CS4 was best, the file exported cleanly and the tabs stayed put.

I can't imagine what the problem must be with ID CS5. . . either the background action, an issue with older files, some kind of conflict with Acrobat? In any case, I guess I'll be taking InDesign CS5 out of the dock for now and working with the version I can trust. I hope the folks at Adobe are working on this and not just relying on us to find workarounds. When they issue a new update I'll try it again, but cute corners on my boxes don't beat confidence in exporting to a PDF.

J

jdnorman

Participating Frequently

@ Matthew - thanks for the fast reply. Here's the case # - 181910243. I've had no problems exporting PDFs in the background since deleting the Datasource file in the Mark II / SING directory.

@ Christa - the overwriting PDF issue is true of all apps, not just Adobe's, trying to overwrite a file that's been used by Mail. I've had the same issue trying to replace a jpeg or other file that I had previously attached to a mail message. Regarding PDFs, I simply export to the desktop to avoid overwriting a file, then delete the unwanted PDF and replace in position with the new one. Another workaround is to just append your filename with a number to indicate a file progression and just not overwrite the file. That's what our studio of 8 designers has been doing for quite some time.

J

jdnorman

Participating Frequently

RESOLVED - FOR ME - FINALLY.

I have tried a number of things to resolve this issues since upgrading to CS5, and none of what I've read in the forums (here and elsewhere) has resolved PDF exporting in the background for me. (Mac, 10.6.5, 8 gb RAM), other than a javascript that ran the export in the FOREGROUND rather than in the background.

I called Adobe today and am pleased to say that the issue was resolved using a method I had NOT read about anywhere over the past few months, and it was simple: Quit all running Adobe apps, then move the "Datasource" file located here to the desktop or to the trash:

HD / Library / Application Support / Adobe / SING / Mark II / Datastore

Relaunch InDesign and try exporting a PDF. This completely resolved the issue for me, and is a huge relief.

Hope that's helpful to some of you. I feel your pain.

MatthewLaun

Adobe Employee

@jdnorman,

Strange; I've never heard of bad data in that source causing issues with PDF export. If you have your case number, I'd love to follow up and chat with the agent who provided the solution, and get them some praise as well.

The SING system is primarily used in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean typography for the purposes of handling "gaiji" characters. So for most users the datastore should have nothing but boiler plate data, but there have been cases of that data becoming corrupted. For example, see this article:

"InDesign hangs/freezes when attempting to open or create a document."

http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/408/kb408816.html

Cheers!

Matthew

Participating Frequently

Thanks, if there's a need to complete the form we will. First we'll call Apple, Mail is full of issues itself.

And yes, the file was saved on the hard drive already. That's why we were "overwriting". Only happens when you overwrite for us.

Enjoy your day!

MatthewLaun

Adobe Employee

InDesign will not be allowed [by the OS] to overwrite a file that has a lock from another process [Mail]. There's simply nothing that we can do about that. You'll see the same thing if you try to overwrite a PDF that is locked by [open in] Acrobat, Reader or Preview. When we say we don't know of this issue, it means it's not made it's way into our knowledgebase through the process of being escalated to senior technical staff by our technical support agents. Now that I'm aware of it, I'll try to reproduce it to confirm the details, then I can document it. But that won't change the results. You'll still need to remove the lock. If that means quiting Mail, then that's what you'll need to do. Once confirmed, I will communicate this to our internal Adobe Applie liaison, who can then in turn communicate to his Apple contacts, but if and when they would resolve the issue can't be guaranteed.

Participating Frequently

Thanks for the reply Peter. Through the forums last night, we learned that many people are having the exact same problem. The problem occurs when you try to overwrite a PDF (from InDesign CS5) that is/was attached to a recent email created with Apple's Mail program (while Mail is open). We're addressing the problem on another forum. The only solution to date is to close Mail.

What's upsetting is how fast Adobe was to claim there weren't any "known reports of such problems" - yet the 10 seconds we spent searching their own forum revealed otherwise. Whether it's an Adobe product or an Apple product, Adobe could extend the courtesy of researching a little longer. 90% of the time we call Adobe we're put on the defensive when they immediately start denying any concerns. CS5 freezes on a daily basis, on a brand new Mac. I'd like to spend more time producing work than discussing problems on the phone with Adobe. Tech Support with CS5 was been very disappointing.

When and if we narrow down the concern with Mail, we'll post it here because the problem we have is while exporting from InDesign CS5.

All the best,

Christa

BobLevine

Community Expert

Adobe won't have a record of it unless someone tells them.

https://www.adobe.com/cfusion/mmform/index.cfm?name=wishform

Bob

Participating Frequently

BTW - running 7.0.3 already. The problem has been happening since we upgraded in July.

Peter Spier

Community Expert

Perhaps if you actually told us about the problem someone could help...