Illustrator 2021 v26.01 is saving very slowly

[mike.theinsidetrackinc]

I have a AI file that has a single bitmap image placed (not embedded) with a polyline running around its perimeter as a cut line for production. These are the only two items in the file. The image is very large, 1.5GB, but I've handled files this size before. The file is taking 30 minutes or more to save and I have not successfully saved a copy as a PDF yet. I get the fast spinning beachball and after 30 minutes I give up. Even though the image is a referenced file, my AI file is over 1GB itself. That seems crazy since it only contains a single polyline. I don't remember this happening with previous versions of Illustrator. Any advice?

[mike.theinsidetrackinc]

Sorry, I'm on MacOS Catalina 10.15.7, MacBook 16" 2019, i9, 32GB RAM, 8GB GPU.

[mike.theinsidetrackinc]

Sorry again...I just notice this is AI 2022. maybe that's the problem.

[Ton Frederiks]

With Bitmap you mean a 1 bit per pixel imge? That should not be that bif.

What could make it big if you save the fie with PDF compatility..

[Ton Frederiks]

And how big is the external bitmap file?