Illustrator CC is taking a very long time to open and save files.

[JoelSteele]

I am using a Mac with the Mavericks OS. Illustrator can take up to FIVE MINUTES to open or save a file. It is becoming a waste of time as I have to work on multiple projects a day. I read about "Adobe Drive" but have not found this option on the version of Illustrator that I have.

Please help!

[Monika Gause]

What exactly is in the file and exactly where are you saving it?

[JoelSteele]

Hello Monika,

I am saving and opening both .ai and .eps files. We have a server that we store a lot of our files on, so I thought the connection might be slowing it down. So I have also tried saving files onto my Desktop instead, but have had the same results.

Also, I have noticed that sometimes the new file has been saved, but the program is not responding. After a while I will force quit illustrator.

Any thoughts? I have tried unistalling and reinstalling with the CC desktop app, but there has been no change.

[Monika Gause]

Saving to and reading from your hard disk is generally advised. Illustrator doesn't like servers that much.

Other causes can be:

- content of the files: are they big? Lots of linked files?

- corrupt fonts

- missing printer, old printer driver

[JoelSteele]

The files arent big. (I mean, so can be, but not generally). There aren't a lot of linked files. Most of them are just vector illustrations.

Is there a way to check for corrupt fonts or out of date printer drivers?

Thanks for your help, btw. I really appriciate it.

[Monika Gause]

For the printer driver you need to see the manufacturer's web site if there's a new version available. Also check if the printer is available on the network.

For the fonts, some font management software allows these kinds of checks.

[JoelSteele]

All right,

I have removed any font files that fontbook marked with "caution" and downloaded the latest printer driver. I have run Disk Repair and fixed all my permissions. I have removed any programs that I do not use. I have run a Software Update to make sure the Mac is up to date and then restarted my computer.

Illustrator took about a minute to save a new, empty file to my desktop.

Any other ideas?

[JoelSteele]

Any update?

I found this discussion: http://forums.adobe.com/message/5839180 but have been unable to locate Adobe Drive on my system.

I have followed the above suggestions with no avail. I have only been opening files from my desktop. This issue is only with Illustrator, Photoshop works fine.

I ran a script yesterday that opens up eps files and saves them as a png, and what normally takes around 30 seconds took almost 45 minutes. I need to solve this problem asap.

Would uninstalling and reinstalling the CC suite be of any benifit?

[JoelSteele]

I just installed the lastest Mavericks Security Update (2014-002) and it has solved the problem.

[dariofisher]

Im having the same problem with almost all files I try to save from Illustrator CC, including ones I have been opening and saving without issue for 12 months. the Mavericks security update didnt fix anything for me.

Im using a 27 inch iMac (late 2012) with 2.9GHz i5, 8GB memory, running OS X 10.9.2. My Illustrator CC is 'up to date'.

We have a second identical spec iMac - except it has not had the Mavericks update which is opening and saving the same files instantly, which suggests a conflict with Mavericks...any tips?

[barrydj02]

MMPDar,

I had to call adobe for customer support for this same problem! It took 3 hours to pin point the Issue with Illustrator. The error is in the ~Library folder and preference folder. We uninstalled ALL past and present Adobe products on my system, and manually removed ALL system files, and preferences from the the ~Library folder that had the name Adobe in the title. Then made sure all of those were emptied from the trash. Restart the system, and download all the Adobe products I use. After I Installed Illustrator CC 2014, it runs perfect!! (thank heavens, 2 days with problems and no work getting done) I have to say, the over seas Adobe Tech was great.

[onemoetime]

I am having the exact same issue. I have a mac pro 6 core because I thought my 15" retina was not processing fast enough. Much to my dismay, Illustrator takes 4-6 minutes to launch and 1-2 mins to close a file, but only takes 3 secs to save the file. This is very unproductive, I work on all file sizes, types and Illustrator is the only issue I have.

[Sereby_K]

I was searching for a solution to this also. I'm running Illustrator 2014 on Windows, and found this solution that seems to greatly reduce the amount of time it takes at least to save files in Illustrator:

Illustrator taking a long time to save your file? | Tiny Tutorials' Adobe Classroom

I hope this helps a little.

[D_avidG_]

Illustrator taking a long time to save your file? | Tiny Tutorials' Adobe Classroom

THIS IS IT !!!!

Thanks havens !!!

[Mike_Sans]

I'm having a tough time with this, too, but only after moving to CC. Previous versions of AI have no issue.

Here are my relevant details:

Mid 2010 Mac Pro

20 GB RAM

500+ GB free on local drive; I typically work from a very high performance server volume.

My issue happens for both local and network saves.

ENTERPRISE version of CC - NOT signed into Cloud

Agency prepress environment - transparency is avoided

When large .EPS files are placed, I seem to get a significant 30+ seconds lag before the small .AI file is saved.

My current project is: a simple dieline + associated markups. One line of type; two weights of Helvetica Neue LT; no other fonts. One 220MB .EPS placed twice. Final .AI file is 644 KB. All save options but compression off; saving as CC. No transparency, no effects, etc. I can save this back to Illustrator 8 without worry.

If I "Save as...", I get:

• the filename window immediately, click save

• an almost-immediate beachball for about 65 seconds (the time varies per project)

• the save options dialog, click save

• save progress bar is almost immediate

CC behaves similarly on other machines in the office, which are patched to current but use Mavericks vs Yosemite. All our production macs are installed from the same image and use tightly managed, licensed, server-based fonts.

[rickwtexas]

The answer to this one is pretty easy... when you save, turn off "Create PDF compatible file"... that way Illus is not saving a huge pdf coded file in addition to the ai file. Files save in 1/6th of the time. The only downfall, is that if you give the lose the original .ai file, you will not have a lot of luck converting pdf's back into .ai files (and how often will that happen?). )

[hlgan36]

It will be normal when you turn off your Wi-Fi or any internet connection. I thought the sync setting is the main issue but I didn't sign in my Adobe account, I am not sure why still taking long time to open or save my file when internet connection is ON.

[Philbot]

Go To:

Preferences / File Handling and Clipboard / Number of Recent Files to Display:

Change to 0

save and quit

[Laurence5C09]

Perfect - solved the slow opening of Ai. thanks