Who can tell me why files are slow

[travisb10426269]

In Illustrator, I work with PDFs that were exported from CAD/Revit architectural programs and they are painfully slow. Is there a way to connect with someone with Adobe or a third party who can examine a sample file and tell me WHY these are so bad?

I've tried all my tricks and researched, but I don't know what else to try. If someone could specifically say what's going on, I could try to fix it in my files. Or I could tell the architects what to do differently.

[Monika Gause]

Can you open Window > Document info and tell us how many paths and anchor points are in the files?

What are your hardware specifications?

[travisb10426269]

Here's a sample file's info. I'm using a Mac Studio (M2 Max) with 64 BG of RAM.

And what's the biggest impact in file performance- is number of paths worse than number of masks? Open paths worse than closed paths?

[travisb10426269]

These files open so much faster in Affinity Designer, so it seems like Illustrator should be able to handle them.

[Monika Gause]

So there are 2 million points. Probably that number could be smaller when paths get joined. 

As for the number of masks: probably both are equally bad. What do you need to edit in Illustrator? 

[travisb10426269]

We use plans as a base layer for wayfinding documentation. I know the files are complex - CAD makes everything worse by making fills as masks and strokes as separate objects. But this Studio machine is just as slow as the 5-year-old iMac it replaced, so it seems like Illustrator is the problem. Affinity Designer is 10x faster, but doesn't work with the rest of our workflow.

[Monika Gause]

Is it necessary to make the fills in the CAD? Or could you also make them in Illustrator? So whatever makes the file less heavy, would be a good thing, no?

[travisb10426269]

I don't have much control over the files we receive, though I can sometimes make simple requests like "turn off the patterns." I don't know many details about CAD, so I don't know how hard it is to turn off wall fills without turning off text fills.

If I can figure out an exact request like "use the __ preset" or "set the output to __", then maybe architects would do that.

[Bobby Henderson]

If Affinity Designer is opening the CAD-generated art files much faster I would be suspicious Designer is taking some shortcuts with the artwork, such as turning a bunch of it into a pixel-based image. Version 2 is a bit better at respecting vector-based artwork and keep it as such; V1 was really bad about rasterizing all sorts of things.

A CAD-generated layout with over 800,000 paths and nearly 2 million anchor points is going to act sluggish in just about any vector graphics application. I can easily imagine CorelDRAW freezing up for periods of time trying to manipulate that.

For certain kinds of sign projects, I'll request a PDF of building elevations be exported from the CAD document. I'll open those in Illustrator and just extract the single elevation I need at the time into a new document. I'll lock that artwork on one layer and use it as a guide to create a more simplified version of the building elevation, with all the new, clean objects being closed paths that can be filled. Leaving out textures such as brick lines and countless thousands of sandstone EIFS dots makes the art a lot easier to handle.

[Corrine35190256r7rq]

I have had continual problems with this too.  I had a large CAD file map from an architect.  It was large but it had worked fine.  Then all of a sudden, it didn't.  It was the weirdest thing.  I had created room numbers and icons all over the map, a map key and just had a few more edits.  I sent it for review.  When I opened it the next time, it took 20 minutes in between each keystroke and I couldn't see where I was moving objects.  I just had to wait for it to 're-draw'.  I almost couldn't finish my project.  Adobe's answer to my problem was much that of another responder, "make the map into imported art and draw on top of it."  But you loose all editing capablities of the file.  Then last minute they tell you they added a wall or moved a door.  I was working on a school that was 3 levels the size of college campus, with 3000 rooms the building was circles.  This was not something I wanted to REDRAW it would have taken weeks.  I don't have an answer, I'm qualifying that this is A PROBLEM and I feel like they recently updated the program and made it worse for this somehow.  It handles LESS DATA than before.

[Srishti Bali]

Hi there,

I'm sorry to hear you're having issues with Illustrator. Could you please provide a few more details?

• Could you please confirm if the issue is specific to some particular files with complex artwork or with all files regardless of size? Can you please share a sample file? 
• When did this issue start? Did it begin after a recent update?
• What are your operating system and Illustrator versions?

We're here to help — we just need a bit more information.

Regards,

Srishti

[travisb10426269]

This happens often, with different files, but it doesn't always seem the performance is directly tied to file size. I've attached a file I can find quickly.

The issue has been around for a while across different versions.

We use macOS 14.6.1 and keep Illustrator up to date (28.7.1).

[Anubhav M]

Hello @travisb10426269,

Thanks for sharing the file. Kindly allow me some time to check this with the team.

Anubhav

[Corrine35190256r7rq]

It happened about 8.18.24 when I tried to open the file.  Right after that update. 

Either of Illustrator or Windows, both updated around the same time. 

The same file saved 7.24.24 worked just fine, as IN FAST (less 4-5 edits).  I had a little lag time here or there but nothing to talk about.

I called technical support they keep asking me to send a file and saying it's possibly corrupted or something.  Suggested it was because: I saved it on an external hard drive

OR AS: an illustrator .PDF file not an .AI file.  (I've saved all my files as Illustrator .PDF files for 10 yrs, never had an issue.)  Later we changed it to an .ai file and I barley was able to edit with 10 min lags between touches with the GPU performance turned off.

The FIRST THING I said to the person on the phone was MY computer updated yesterday/two days ago, and now my files don't work.   

The artwork is from an architect-CAD.  There are A LOT of segmented lines.  (I've not 'flattened' the art becuase they are known for making a last minute omg I just moved a wall or door, can you edit it...)  But, I was picking up and MOVING entire CIRCULAR BUILDINGS on the map and Illustrator was not having a problem with this days earlier, sure it was laging a little trying to re-draw the move.  (I consider this to be a lot of data and didn't find that to be a big deal.)  Adding graphics like stair icons and R/R icons copy/pasting, making a whole color key coded it with shapes behind the map, editing text, I had several saved versions of this file I submitted (plus, I saved every 10 minutes just in case).  All of a sudden on 8.18.24 when I got my review comments back.  Illustrator would not move a single line or dot, it would hardly open the file with NO OTHER PROGRAMS OPEN.  It took 20 minutes of watching it spool to change "A123" to "A223."  SOMETHING WASN'T RIGHT.  I tried to go to other versions thinking I had a corrupt file I would just use a previous version.  It ate my files. What do I mean by that... The names changed after I opened the file (like to the name of the first file I opened that wasn't working) and so did the file size from 8 MB to a larger file size.  (It's like 14MB now, to me that's still not even really that big of a file for illustrator.)  To even get a version that I could use again I had to go to the last one I sent to the architect and I dumped it on my desktop, it still had the same slow issues, (while it didn't eat my file).  I e-mailed it and can only send smaller files... (When I opened outlook I watched it change the file size of the attachment from 8MB to 14MB on an existing file I had previously sent.)  After I saved it back onto this external hard drive and those files... NO problems.

Could it be a combo that it was on this 3T external hard drive that has 50 MB on it? IDK  I have not had any other issues like that with any other Illustrator files before or after.  Just that one. ( I work remote so I have to have a way to bring files home, when done they are uploaded to the server here at work).

When I'm done with projects, I need to have a filing system accessible to everyone here at the office so they can view my files.  But they don't ALL have illustrator or know how to use it.  So I save them as ADOBE Illustrator .PDF files then anyone can view them and I still have editing capabilities.  I don't have to worry about version control when I send a proof to a customer, there is only one file.  Not an .ai version and .pdf version of the same file.      

Other things to know: I have had issues with my files NOT saving in the right spot.  We nailed that down to being a web issue, lag time in the upload (so like if someone has their baby monitor on nearby) it causes interferrance... and makes it slower... or is watching their TV... so these delays cause pauses in saving and it get's lost when saving from a remote source like E-mail to my computer. 

But isn't everything is kind of web based now?   

I also notice another thing...  Illustrator is drawing an immense amount of memory from my machine.  We installed added RAM and maxed my computer out, I don't know how much I have but it's quite a bit. (Not a gaming computer though).  It still gives me warnings its out of memory when I'm running ONLY 2-3 programs, and have one file open.  Outlook for example, every open window draws memory.  So I can't have more than a few e-mails open at a time.  I think there is SOMETHING over all fishy going on with the amount of MEMORY DRAW by MICROSOFT.   

Another thing, after I started having issues, I got GPU performance, or video card type warnings.  This is what the Adobe care team did to make it so if I waited 20 minutes between moving an object I could finish my drawing.  Edit>Preferences>Uncheck GPU Performance>Uncheck Animated Zoom,>Uncheck Real-time Drawing and Editing> click OK.  (But, by all means, this was barely a bandaid to a file that had worked at times slower than some files but nearly flawlessly before.) 

Was it I just had great internet that week when I worked on this file?

My computer is 1 yr, 8 mo's old. Dell, Windows 11.  (With two max upgraded RAM chips.)

[Anubhav M]

Hello @Corrine35190256r7rq,

Thanks for sharing the additional details. I have already requested the Product Team for this and will update this thread as I have more information. I appreciate your time and patience in this matter.

Thanks,
Anubhav

[Bobby Henderson]

CAD-based drawings are generally very lousy elements to use in any kind of finished graphics design project where all the line work is clean and shapes are filled with color.

In applications like Illustrator geometric objects like boxes and other shapes are typically drawn as closed loop paths. Those closed paths can be given color fills and manipulated pretty easily. People who draw up things like building plans in CAD applications routinely do the opposite of this. Just about all the line work consists of open line segments rather than closed paths. I think this is done to avoid any lines running over the top of each other. But the side effect is artwork that is not edit-friendly.

Another problem with CAD-based artwork: curves. The applications use an arcs and lines to define most objects. They don't use Bezier paths common to vector graphics applications. At best they'll use a "polyline" method to create a curve, such as the shape of a "S." The shape will have a lot more anchor points due to the limitations of the arc/line CAD paradigm.

There is no way for Illustrator or any other vector graphics application to automatically clean up the kinds of problems seen in CAD-generated drawings. If the plans are meant to have color and graphics applied to them the geometric objects have to be drawn that way in the first place. People who use CAD applications almost never do that.