Adobefnt*.lst file updates possibly causing performance issues with onedrive?

[TristanBall]

We're running 15.0.3, and were seeing strange issues where the AdobeFnt22.lst file is updated several times a minute for each open InDesign file.. enough that onedrive is effectively permanently updating.

This did not appear to be an issue on Dropbox, and I can't reproduce the issue when the InDesign file is stored on a local, un-synced folder.

What's particularly strange is that the file is being updated even when there is no activity in InDesign? My research says this file is updated when the font list is rescanned... but if the fonts aren't changing, and the InDesign file isn't changing.. What's triggering the rescan?

Is there a way to disable it? Even temporarily so we can prove it's not the cause of the performance issue we're having?

Thanks

[TristanBall]

Further investigation shows the issue is far more prevalent when there is more than one InDesign File open - when even just switching tabs between files is enough to cause the adobefnt22.lst files to be updated.

It also updates the files several times in quick succession (9? maybe), which onedrive appears to process as individual updates.

The behaviour also occurs on Dropbox, however the impact doesn't seem as high - possibly because onedrive tracks last file write times to the millisecond, Dropbox only to the second? Guessing really.

[BobLevine]

What operating system? I only work in Dropbox or OneDrive and have not seen any issues with performance like this.

[TristanBall]

Windows 10. Uplink speed may be a factor... for example the same person working from home will experience more issues than when working from the office -- home means ADSL2 with <1mbit upload rates, while working in the office means using a 100mbit internet connection.

However we did not experience the slowdowns with Dropbox, on the same links.

[lauriecf]

Hi all,

I'd like to chime in saying we're having the same or similar issues here. The performance hit is so severe that InDesign effectively becomes unusuable - simple tasks like moving a frame or selecting text take 15-20 seconds, mostly as the app is unresponsive.

(Just a disclaimer, I'm self-taught in InDesign, so may be doing something dumb font-management-wise). I can replicate the issue by opening two different documents that have both been Packaged, resulting in a 'Document Links' folder being created, containing the Adobefnt*.lst file. If a document has not been packaged (and so does not have a Adobefnt*.lst file), we can have as many open as we like. To escape the issue we must close the second file, or quit OneDrive. I think this is a fairly recent issue I think started in May / June.

Can anyone point me towards how to get a file back to its pre-packaged state, specifically, not having a Adobefnt*.lst file?

Many thanks in advance for any help.

[Laubender]

Hi lauriecf,

what's your exact version of InDesign?

The OP is talking about version 15.0.3. In the meanwhile we are at InDesign version 15.1.1.103 where another bug sneaked in that enforces a delay with the Text tool if you click inside a text frame. For documents that are using the Document fonts folder and InDesign is processing the contained fonts for display. A fix is beeing on the way for that, I think. At least the developers are working on a solution. However, I cannot tell when the next bug-fix version of InDesign will be out.

Regards,
Uwe Laubender

( ACP )

[lauriecf]

Hi Uwe,

Many thanks for the informative and speedy reply.

Sorry for missing out that important info! We are also on 15.0.3. We had updated to 15.1, but we started to encounter crashes on export for PDFs that contained other InDesign files as links. I didn't have time to thoroughly diagnose the issue so we just rolled back to 15.0.3 for stability (which is a little ironic to say now!).

Perhaps it's worth giving the latest version another shot! Assuming the delay you mention isn't too severe, it sounds preferable to our current situation. Thanks for your help

[jojodoeslife]

I am having this issue (over 6 months later than the OP) with the latest InDesign update in place (17.0.1) and have finally determined that it is the stupid "AdobeFnt22.lst" file that pops up in Document Fonts folder, and even when deleted, reappears almost immediately while the InDesign file is open. My document has only 4 fonts used total in about 35 pages. Nothing complicated. More info:

- Using Google Drive but had paused syncing while using INDD in an attempt to make INDD work faster - to no avail.

- On an M1 Macbook Air with Big Sur 11.6.2

- Wi-Fi enabled (I cannot work without it on)

- I have already reset preferences before

- I have rebooted

- I have uninstalled and reinstalled INDD

I cannot keep doing the above and work efficiently. For as much as Adobe charges its customers, you would think they'd  put out a reliable product. 

[energetic_moment47716]

Multiple members of our team are using a shared directory with many INDD files and a "Document fonts" subdirectory. InDesign is causing a whole bunch of conflicting saves to the "AdobeFnt24.lst", which results in lots of files like "AdobeFnt24 (Team Member's conflicted copy 2024-08-29 1).lst". When the files accumulate, it seems to bring InDesign down to a crawl and we need to keep manually deleting the files from the directory. So frustrating!

[Abhishek Rao]

Hello @The Pastoral Center

Thank you for reaching out and sharing your experience—I'm sorry to hear about the frustrations you're facing with these conflicting save issues.

To better assist you, could you please provide details about the version of InDesign your team is using and the operating systems involved? This will help us narrow down the potential causes.

In the meantime, one way to reduce these conflicts is to avoid sharing the "Document fonts" directory directly across multiple users. Instead, try copying the necessary fonts to each user's local machine or use a shared library service like Adobe Fonts for consistency. Additionally, ensure that all team members are using the same version of InDesign to minimize any discrepancies.

Let me know if this helps or if there's anything else I can assist with!

Thank you, 
Abhishek Rao

[energetic_moment47716]

To detail the versions involved:

We use the most recent version of InDesign (Creative Cloud). That is currently 19.5.

Different team members are using different operating systems and versions. We work out of home offices, but these are the system setting I’m aware of. They all seem to show the same behavior.

• MacBook, OSX 13.5.1
• MacBook, OSX 13.0.1
• MacBook, OSX 14.6.1
• Windows 11

Unfortunately, our current project uses quite a few fonts, which aren’t all available on Adobe Fonts, so we’re stuck with it for now. Thanks!

[rob day]

Unfortunately, our current project uses quite a few fonts, which aren’t all available on Adobe Fonts, so we’re stuck with it for now.

Do you really have to load the fonts from a packaged and sync’d Document fonts folder? Why not get the fonts installed in all of the collaborator’s system folders and avoid the font sync’ing as @Abhishek Rao suggested?

[energetic_moment47716]

Yes, we could go back to doing it that way, but it's annoying to have everyone on the team have to manually manage/install fonts whenever they start using a project or a font is added to a project. That's why there is a "Document fonts" folder feature, right?

[rob day]

That's why there is a "Document fonts" folder feature, right?

The Package feature‘s primary purpose is to send press ready files to a printer—when the printer is ready to output the files they don’t have to install fonts for the single usage. Today most printers want a press-ready PDF where, if it is allowed, the fonts can be embedded and there are no licence issues.

If your organization owns licences for their font library, why not install the fonts on all the computers, and if the library is large, use a font mangaer to auto activate? Otherwise, using the Adobe Type library would avoid the licencing problems, and the fonts can be activated as needed without a font manager or a Document fonts folder.

[leo.r]

• MacBook, OSX 13.0.1

By @energetic_moment47716

While it's not related to the issue discussed here, make sure to update this machine to the latest version of Ventura. Anything earlier than macOS 13.5 can prevent InDesign from launching at some point.

[Laubender]

Hi @energetic_moment47716 ,

interesting to hear that there are issues in that scale.

How many font files are stored in the Document fonts folder?

FWIW: For the sake of consistency among all participents in the workflow, well, I would have also preferred a Document fonts folder on the server drive. Sad to hear, that this workflow could bring InDesign down to a crawl. The point is, that without using a Document fonts folder one has to make sure that everyone is absolutely using the same versions of all font files. The first place InDesign will look up for used fonts in a particular document is the Document fonts folder…

Regards,
Uwe Laubender
( Adobe Community Expert )

[energetic_moment47716]

We have 49 font files for this particular project. Many, of course, are variations within a font family.

[Mike Witherell]

Just wondering...

Is this shared folder and files (presumably cloud/web based) set to "Make available offline"?

Another idea:

What if you get rid of the Document fonts folder altogether and have the InDesign preference "Auto-Activate Adobe fonts"?

[energetic_moment47716]

In our case, we are using the "Make available offline" option. We are using the "Document fonts" folder because most of the fonts we are using are not Adobe fonts.

[rob day]

Are there muliple users trying to work on the ID file simultaneously? If so that’s going to be a problem in any sync’d workflow. There has to be scheduling communication between the collaborators, otherwise you will also likely get conflict duplicates with the ID files as well. With file sync’ing there are no lock files.

[energetic_moment47716]

Yes, we generally have only one person working on a file at once and are reasonably careful about this. But if we fail at this and there is a collision, Dropbox creates a "conflicted copy" file and we have to resolve any changes. Unfortunately, the Document fonts issue is happening a lot because team members ARE working on different files in the same directory at the same time (just not the same file). We have them all in the same directory because they share not only the fonts, but also many source files in the Links directory.

[rob day]

Doesn’t seem like it is worth living with the performance hit when moving the fonts into the users’ OS font folders is relatively easy.

[energetic_moment47716]

I also want to note related bugs/discussions:

• Slow performance - spinning wheel - AdobeFnt22.lst
• Adobefnt*.lst file updates possibly causing performance issues with onedrive?

[Chris28788815tgby]

On version 20.1.0.71, and still getting this issue using Adobe Sync!

[Abhishek Rao]

Hi @Chris28788815tgby,

Would you mind checking if there are any firewalls or antivirus programs that might be interfering with the sync? To isolate them, you would need to disable them with the help of your IT team. Also, are you using office internet or home Wi-Fi for the connection? This could help identify any network-related issues.

Let me know!

^
Abhishek