Illustrator freezes when saving a file- is there a way to fix it?

[jacquelynw12521522]

Hi,

My Illustrator freezes up completely when I try to save a file. I have to force quit the program because it gets totally locked up. I have tried restarting my computer and running a disk utility on it, but nothing has helped.

I am running CS6 on Mac 10.11.6 El Capitan, in case that helps.

Please does someone have a fix for this problem?

Thanks so much!

[Cari Jansen]

Do you have any third party plug-ins or extensions installed in Ilustrator? (e.g. font management).

• Try to uninstall any third party plug-ins or extensions. Depending on how these are installed (you might need to refer to user documentation for the specific plug-in), use the Extension Manager application to disable the extension, or you can locate the plug-ins inside the Illustrator application folder and remove them manually.

Also have you tried deleting/resetting the Illustrator preferences?

• How to set preferences in Illustrator

You can also clear the cache on your computer:

• How to Clear Cache on macOS. Delete Cache Files on MacBook, iMac or Mac Mini   (follow the how to clear the cache manually instructions, there is NO need to install third party software to do this).

Hopefully one of these will get your Illustrator up and running again.

[Mike_Gondek]

Freezing while saving usually happens with creative Cloud version due to corrupted OOBE, but you are CS6. So let me know if you also have the creative cloud on your computer. For you would recommend amen sure you have 10% free drive space and.

Reset Your Preferences.

Cmd-Opt-Ctrl-Shift when restarting AI on a Mac or Alt-Crtl-Shift on a PC to reset to the defaults.

Thanks for posting your OS and Illustraror version, so many people forget to do that, so is s pleasure to respond on your post.

[Cari Jansen]

Also something to note: Adobe no longer builds support for CS6 applications (updates, new versions etc) and these applications have not been tested with El Capitan by the engineering team. There's been reports that it can work, but also that people are having issues.

An additional solution I came across seem to involve:

• Installing Java for OSX 2015-001, however I can't guarantee that will fix things.

[jacquelynw12521522]

Thank you for these suggestions! I am not very tech savvy but I will try to do my best to follow them to see if I can get my Illustrator to work.

Another question: would it be better for me to upgrade my Illustrator program to work better with el Capitan?

[Cari Jansen]

I'd definitely consider upgrading to Creative Cloud membership. If you only use Adobe Illustrator, you can even get a membership for a single application. You have an option to pay annually or monthly (even the annual membership you can pay monthly) ... Note that if you do monthly payments you might incur a monthly foreign exchange fee on your credit card though, which is why I tend to pay annually (as I live in Australia, each purchase from Adobe incurs extra fees that you don't see till you get your credit card statement).

See: Creative Cloud pricing and membership plans | Adobe Creative Cloud

[jacquelynw12521522]

I'm an archaeologist and often use Illustrator in places where there is absolutely no internet access at all. The Cloud does not meet my needs I'm afraid! But thanks for the suggestion!

[Monika Gause]

So you don't have a printer attached either?

Try and install a PDF printer.

[Cari Jansen]

You don't have to have an active internet connection 100% of the time when you install Illustrator CC (2017). Basically you need internet access when you install the software (which you do by first installing the Creative Cloud desktop application, then you can install the software on your computer from that application). When you travel for work and don't have internet access you can launch Illustrator and it will run OK, the only things that won't work is if you are syncing files to CC Libraries or CC folder. 

For more information about this see: Internet connectivity, offline grace period, and reminders | Adobe Creative Cloud apps

[jacquelynw12521522]

Thank you I didn't know that, this is very helpful. I tried the other suggestions but nothing worked, so this is a great option.

Thank you very much for all your wisdom and patience!

From my very small experience it seems that some people on here are quite ...well not very nice  (even downright insulting!) to new comers who know nothing about computers. Seems weird to get upset about posters not understanding things when the purpose of this site is to educate people!

Again thanks for your help!

[Cari Jansen]

Awww, thanks for the kind words. And an absolute pleasure to help out. (I wish I had more time to spend on the forums to be honest... but work and RL (real life) gets in the way a bit time-wise).

[Cari Jansen]

There are some additional things you can try:

• In the Finder, press Option-key and select Go > Library
• In the folder that opens navigate to Caches > com.adobe.illustrator and delete this entire folder (make sure Illustrator is not running when you do this).  // I'm hoping this folder is available on your system, I'm no longer running CS6 so can't verify unfortunately.

Also:

• Does the problem only occur with existing files?
• What happens if you create a New Illustrator document and try to save it? (test this will help isolate if the problem is with Illustrator or with the files you are working on)
• If the problem disappears, try using File > Save As on existing documents and change the name of the file.
• Also what happens if you try to save on say a connected USB-drive instead of the hard drive on your computer?  (testing this might help identify issues with your hard drive for example).
• Can you try change the fonts in your document to something else and see if that allows saving? (e.g. maybe one of the Fonts on your system has corrupted)

All in all there is so much that can go wrong, it generally takes a bit of trial and error (and patience) to finally discover what the culprit is. 

[jacquelynw12521522]

I will try the cache suggestion today thank you!

It happens with new files; and I actually tried to save a variety of files  - some entirely blank and some with drawing and fonts - and none of them saved.

I admit that I have not tried saving existing files out of fear of screwing them up! I tried the save as option and it still did not work. I will see if saving the files to a new destination like a USB drive will help too- I would never have thought of that!

Sadly I am leaving for an excavation season tomorrow so I will likely have to do my field drawing the old fashioned way and then deal with the problem when I am back in the land of reliable electricity and showers.

Thanks again for all your help!

[Monika Gause]

jacquelynw12521522  schrieb

I admit that I have not tried saving existing files out of fear of screwing them up! I tried the save as option and it still did not work. I will see if saving the files to a new destination like a USB drive will help too- I would never have thought of that!

Don't save to USB drives. This might corrupt them completely. Illustrator is known for not behaving well when saving to networks or removable storage. There's even a tech note on it:

Illustrator support for networks and removable media

Is a printer attached and turned on?

Illustrator needs  printer when saving. In case you don't have one, install a PDF printer.

[jacquelynw12521522]

Thanks for the heads up about the USB idea!

I have my computer linked to a printer via wifi.

[Monika Gause]

Is there a printer queue - is it only you accessing that printer or are there several others and some managing software that provides time slots on that printer?

Is the printer directly assigned in your computer and selected as default?

Is the printer permanently turned on?

Illustrator needs to be able to access that printer without anything disturbing the connection.

It's kind of a hassle that this should even affect saving, but it happens.

[jacquelynw12521522]

No it is my own personal printer, and no queue. What about the fact that I will be in many places where there are no printers at all??? It seems silly to not be able to use the darn program if there is no printer around!

[Monika Gause]

You could install a PDF printer.

Like this:

PDFwriter for Mac / Discussion / Help:Mac OS El Capitan

[Srishti Bali]

Hi all,

We understand how frustrating performance issues are. We have consolidated the most popular solutions that help fix these issues. Please check this help article for more details.

If you still need help, feel free to reach out. We'd be happy to help.

Regards,

Srishti