Adobe Illustrator CS6 has stopped working

[mystical_f143]

Hello guys, I was working on a A4 Booklet (Brochure) in Adobe Illustrator CS6 for days and hours, it's a heavy file its a 24 pages booklet A4 size 4x4 color and the file is almost 2.60 GB which is quite heavy. Sometimes it works fine but sometimes when I'm editing something for like 30-40 mins a message pops up saying that "Adobe Illustrator CS6 has stopped working" and all my unsaved data is gone and I have to repeat all the unsaved work again for 30-40 mins which is frustrating and again it happens the same message pop ups and its gone again then I have to repeat it again. So, is there any way that I can fix this issue? or is there any way I can recover my unsaved data when the Illustrator crashes like that? But sometimes for hours it's working perfect it never crashes but sometimes it crashes after minutes. I'm using Adobe Master Collection CS6 and the rest of the apps I haven't used because I only use Photoshop and Illustrator and sometimes InDesign but Photoshop and InDesign I'm not sure if it crashes since I'm not always using it but my main problem is the Illustrator.

The information of my PC is below.

I'm using Dell Alienware: ASM100 ٍIntel(R) Core(TM) i7-4770K CPU @ 3.50GHz

OS: Windows 8.1 Pro

Ram: 16GB (DDR3)

System Type: 64-bit OS Processor

HDD: 500GB (with 200GB+ available space)

Graphics: 2GB NVIDIA GeForce GPU

Regards!

[Bill Silbert]

Have you had this problem with any other files? I can appreciate that with a file as large as you describe that saving frequently would take up a bit of time but I think in this case that would be a "necessary evil". Illustrator files, in my experience, are not usually as massive as the one you describe. That is because a job like this should absolutely be done in InDesign which is a program designed to handle a 24 page booklet. It is a page layout program while Illustrator is essentially a drawing program that offers some design and layout features. I think that the problems you are having occur because you are taxing Illustrator's limits. So either save frequently or do the job in the appropriate program.

[mystical_f143]

Bill Silbert​ Thank you for the brief explanation. When I'm saving the file its takes so much time like probably around 10 mins and even opening takes a bit of time because I have so many things in this booklet that makes the file so heavy. I've had this problem with other files as well like lets say I had a poster of 90cm x 120cm where I had few photos and that file wasn't that heavy it was only 120mbs but I still had that problem with the Illustrator.

For InDesign actually I'm not really perfect in InDesign I just use it for Arabic typing only then I export it to Ai file other than that I can't so my only focus is Illustrator and CorelDraw.

other than that can I recover my unsaved files when this happens?

[Jacob Bugge]

mystical,

I am afraid your saving the document more often than you would prefer is the only way to save you from the greater evil.

Maybe you can incorporate it into your workflow to some advantage, either for a creative pondering break or getting something else done (avoiding anything that may put additional strain on the computer), maybe something entirely different or just the sometimes regenerating nothing.

[Bill Silbert]

I understand that InDesign is not something that you are currently adept at but I would stress that doing a project of this size which would, I assume entail using 24 artboards with images either embedded or linked is really pushing Illustrator to its utmost limits (which is why it takes so long to save). Learning the correct program to do something like this is essential if this is your livelihood. For example, in InDesign a 24 page booklet with images does not approach even close to the size of your Illustrator document. Saving is something that can be done in seconds rather than the incredible amount of time you are currently experiencing. Learning the correct program for the job can only make your life easier.

[mystical_f143]

Bill Silbert​ You're right but one question, can I use the same Ai file in InDesign? if not how can I export the current Ai file and import it to InDesign and nothing's gonna get lost in that file because it is really too much for me to start from the scratch in InDesign again. It took me days to finalize this booklet I just need to finalize few things then I can proceed with the printing.

[mystical_f143]

Below is the look of the booklet all the pages are visible there.

[Jacob Bugge · Accepted solution]

mystical,

I am (still) unconvinced that InDesign would be better (for this kind of booklet) with the mainly graphic content.

But, how about placing the images as Linked instead of embedded? I believe that may be the solution to both the size/complexity/saving time issue. And of course without PDF compatibility.

You should (still) Save A Copy as PDF regularly, of course, along with frequent different saving.

[Monika Gause]

https://forums.adobe.com/people/Jacob+Bugge  schrieb

I am (still) unconvinced that InDesign would be better (for this kind of booklet) with the mainly graphic content.

Of course it would be better - because of all the different formatted text and all the placed raster images (InDesign in way better with placed images than Illustrator). The graphics can easily be linked into an InDesign file.

On top of that: the number of pages and the fact that there are left and right pages.

[mystical_f143]

Monika Gause Since I don't use InDesign and I don't know how can I perfect my designing skills in InDesign as quick as possible because I'm already working in a Company and I don't think they will allow me to use their time in learning something that I want for myself. In fact I can always learn in my off days at home but I need an urgent solution for my in progress project for the next time I think I will consider using InDesign (maybe).

Thanks!

[mystical_f143]

Jacob Bugge​ Yes all the images are embedded because when I want to place an image the links don't work it's grey I can't even click that I don't know why? I actually wanted to place all the images as linked but since it wasn't working I placed them as embedded.

Can you help me fix the placing images as linked?

Thanks!!

[mystical_f143]

Jacob Bugge​ One more question, If I place linked images and the file size is lighter than now and if I send the file for the print will the images be affected or will it still be as quality as I've placed them? I mean what if something goes wrong with the images or with the design because of the linked images? I usually give High Quality PDF file for printing whenever I prepare a design so, will that still be the same or?

[Monika Gause]

mystical.f143  schrieb

I usually give High Quality PDF file for printing whenever I prepare a design so, will that still be the same or?

High Quality print file might or might not be suited for printing. For all the print service suppliers I send files to, it's not suitable at all.

Always ask the service provider exactly what kind of file they want. Most probably it's a PDF/X.

In a PDF all images will be embedded automatically, but in your AI file they shouldn't be embedded. They really blow up file size (because Illustrator doesn't compress embedded images at all) which then might have lead to your issues.

[mystical_f143]

Monika Gause​ Oh okay, in that case I'm gonna place all the images once again as linked and then I will if that helps making the size less. Meanwhile I need to fix why I can't place images as linked. But, thanks for your help it helped a lot I appreciate it.

[Monika Gause]

Can you perhaps tell us what prevented you from placing them as linked? Are the controls gone? Ordo they embed "automatically" when you save?

[mystical_f143]

When I click on Place from Files then I select image then below we have 3 options (Link, Template and Replace) so the Link option is grey color I cant select Link so when I place the image it is Automatically Embed and I don't have any Idea why is it like that, before I could place image as linked but I was on vacation leave for the last 2 months and last week I was back to work and since then I couldn't place images as linked. I'm uninstalling the Illustrator and will reinstall it and then I will see whether that fixes the problem.

[Monika Gause]

Are the images on your desktop or are they on a server? What kind of images are they?

[mystical_f143]

The images are in my D drive in a folder of the same Booklet, it's JPEG Images. please have a look at the image below.

[Bill Silbert]

I think there is a workaround which can introduce the use of InDesign without really having to learn much about it—Yet. What I am proposing is to breakdown the Illustrator file into twelve smaller and more manageable files and then housing them in an InDesign file. To do this do a "Save As" and after choosing "Adobe Illustrator (.ai)" as your format make sure that "Save each artboard as a separate file" is checked in the Illustrator Options dialog that appears during the Save. Save these artboards to a folder called "Links". Create a folder for the entire project and place the Links folder inside that. Next you will create an InDesign file which will also be saved inside the project folder. To do so open InDesign and go to File>New>Document. In the new document dialog that appears enter the same size as the Illustrator artboards in the size fields and the number of artboards in the Pages field. Make sure that "Facing Pages" is unchecked. Once the new document is open go to the Pages Panel (Window>Pages) and click on the first page. Then go to File>Place and scroll to the Links Folder you created and find the first artboard, click on it and choose Open. Your cursor will then show a small icon of the page. Click on the first page in the document and the complete first artboard will appear on the page. You may have to move it into place using the regular selection tool (black arrow). Do the same with all of the rest of the pages until the InDesign document contains the entire job. You will not be able to work directly within InDesign on these pages but by using InDesign's Links Panel (Window>Link) you can get to each individual artboard to make any changes you may need. To do so click on the name of the page in the Links Panel and click on the pencil icon in the lower right corner. This will bring you back to Illustrator and open the correct artboard.

This is no substitute for actually learning the correct program for the job but will serve as a quick fix for the memory problem that you are having.

[Jacob Bugge]

mystical,

I was away for a while.

The linked images remain unchanged/intact, with the same pixel x pixel size, whichever way you may treat them, such as scaling (the resolution just changes by the inverse amount).

In the case shown in the image in your post #19, have you actually a (JPEG) file selected? If not, you may see that greying out.

[Larry G. Schneider]

A couple of questions. Are you saving the file as PDF Compatible? You could try saving with that turned off. Have you ever done a Save As and overwritten the existing file? This will remove a lot hidden history and could give you smaller file.

[mystical_f143]

I have tried saving file as PDF compatible but when I open the file the next day it is the same but I haven't tried Save As yet let me try and see the result. Thanks!