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dazapper
Participating Frequently
November 8, 2024
質問

Unable to Open 272-Page Photo Book in InDesign - File Loading Issue

  • November 8, 2024
  • 返信数 5.
  • 1286 ビュー

I've nearly completed a 272-page coffee-table photo book. Two weeks ago after doing some final edits, I saved the file to both my Mac desktop and to an external hard drive. The file is 122gb. I tried to revisit the file a couple of days later and can no longer open it in InDesign. Whenever I try to open any file for the book, even older version files, it starts to load with the blue bar indicator slowly advancing from left to right. When it reaches about halfway (and after about 5 minutes), the bar and text saying it is loading simply dissappears. I have the files backed up to print-quality pdfs, but the print house designer won't be able to make any adjustments. I've sent the innd file to the print house graphic designer for them to start readying it for print, and they cannot open it either. HELP! 

 

 

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Willi Adelberger
Community Expert
Willi AdelbergerCommunity Expert
Community Expert
November 9, 2024

122 gb file size. That is huge? Did you embed or link images?

Never embed images as this is the main cause for corruption. 
I think you have to go back to the last backup. 

Robert at ID-Tasker
Robert at ID-Tasker
Legend
November 9, 2024
quote

122 gb file size. That is huge? Did you embed or link images?

Never embed images as this is the main cause for corruption. 
I think you have to go back to the last backup. 


By @Willi Adelberger

 

It has been discussed already in the thread. 

 

D
dazapper作成者
Participating Frequently
November 9, 2024

I readdressed the issue today and think the problem has been found. Halfway through the summer, InDesign automatically upgraded the software to InDesign 2025, and I continued working on the book in the 2024 version. Both 2024 and 2025 were still on the desktop and somehow both were saving the latest edited versions of the book. Whenever I tried opening it in 2025, it stopped loading. Today, I was able to open it in 2024 and all the latest changes were there. Computers are often a mystery to me!

    Robert at ID-Tasker
    Robert at ID-Tasker
    Legend
    November 9, 2024

    @dazapper

     

    That's great news! 

     

    Can you check if your images are linked or embedded? 

     

    If - hopefully - linked - do IDMLing ASAP - export as IDML, open, save with a new name - do not overwrite your original INDD file. 

     

    Robert at ID-Tasker
    Robert at ID-Tasker
    Legend
    November 8, 2024

    @dazapper

     

    If you have PDFs exported - hopefully as hi-res - then not all is lost...

     

    You can place them - link not paste / embed - into a new INDD document - and then crop / add text, etc. - use them as a background. 

     

    Or at least rasterize them in Photoshop if necessary. 

     

    There are a few ways that can help you - and it will be much quicker than even trying to share your file... 

     

    D
    dazapper作成者
    Participating Frequently
    November 8, 2024

    I'm thankful to have pdfs in two sizes--one for high quality printing, the other as a low-rez for reference. They were the last exports on 10.20.24, the last time I could successfully open the file. There's a few minor typos needing to be fixed in the book, and a few images needing to be swapped out. UGH, I was so close! This is painful. 

     

      Robert at ID-Tasker
      Robert at ID-Tasker
      Legend
      November 8, 2024

      @dazapper

       

      I'm sorry, but if your INDD file is 122GB - you can start from scratch...

       

      Even sharing it with someone right now would be highly problematic. 

       

      You could try to find someone local with a PC - maybe it will open... 

       

      D
      dazapper作成者
      Participating Frequently
      November 8, 2024

      Thanks for your support. It was so satisfying to be nearing the completion of five years of work--now it seems I'm just getting started.  DZ

      James Gifford—NitroPress
      James Gifford—NitroPress
      Legend
      November 8, 2024

      Well, I would assume the work is in the images themselves. Rebuilding a project in InDesign — following better guidelines — should not be very much work. (A pro, with a stack of 100 images, could probably create a nearly finished draft in a few hours.)

       

      So unless you put a lot more time and unrecoverable effort into the InDesign file, you haven't lost very much progress. And sometimes even when a project isn't broken, it's worth starting over with a clean layout to get a better result.

       

      What you should look for and trust are tutorials from ID experts and trainers. Not that there aren't some of those on YouTube, but you sort of have to be an expert to pick out the ones that are up to date, useful and promote good work practices. Look around the Adobe Help tutorials first.

      James Gifford—NitroPress
      James Gifford—NitroPress
      Legend
      November 8, 2024

      There are ways to recover ID files, all the way up to having Adobe support using in-house tools, I think, but none of this is good or simple. Best of luck recovering your project.

       

      What are your system's specs? It's just barely possible that a beefier machine, with more RAM and plenty of clear hard drive space, might be able to get through the open process — at which point you immediately want to (1) export to IDML and (2) do a Save-As to a new file name. You may not get a second chance.

       

      I'll just say that it sounds like the problem might have been avoidable. In the future consider these points —

      • Make a working backup of major projects at least every day, using the Save-As option and a new name (iterativley numbered or named). Besides making a backup copy, this purges the file of bloat from saved Undo data and other junk and can reduce its size by 2/3 or more. Sheer file size and accumulated junk make files fragile.
      • 122MB is enormous. If you weren't linking the page images in from source files, you should have been. There are many issues with pasting/embedding images of any size, especially ones for coffee-table resolution. But even the preview images for many large, linked images can be quite bulky, so maybe that's part of it.
      • With very large projects, either many pages or large numbers of big elements (like those photos) it can help to split the project into several chapters to keep files smaller, sturdier and more resistant to loss.

       

      davecourtemanche
      davecourtemanche
      Inspiring
      November 8, 2024

      Just to add, I recommend using the ID book function for exactly this purpose. 122GB sounds like the images were embedded, which becomes problematic for a printer to adjust if needed. 

      James Gifford—NitroPress
      James Gifford—NitroPress
      Legend
      November 8, 2024

      Yeah, there's a dozen reasons not to embed images. This just barely could be high-quality previews for 100+ art photos, plus never purging the file, but we'll see what the OP says.

       

      Just one of those things novices all do... once, if they're lucky. 😛

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