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00rhodiad
Participating Frequently
July 11, 2017
Answered

Awesome New Adobe Creative Break Initiative!

  • July 11, 2017
  • 2 replies
  • 2749 views

I'd like to thank Adobe for it's hugely successful creative break initiative! At first I was annoyed and perplexed, but I think I get it now. I'm often tempted to work productively in Indesign for way too long without a break, and I'm thankful to Adobe for helping me avoid this. Two hours of productive work, or even one, can be unhealthful without breaks, so Adobe has brilliantly programmed Indesign to occasionally disappear, helping me to notice that I have been getting actual work done for probably way too long.

These breaks seldom result in lost work, thanks to Indesign's excellent auto-saving functionality, and the specially designed extended application launch and file recovery process takes just long enough that I don't want to sit and wait, so I get up and walk nervously around the room until I can confirm that I've only lost the last ten minutes or so of work. (But it's been an hour or so since my last break—that those final 10 minutes were probably getting slightly less efficient anyway.)

My only question is why be so secretive? I can't find any documentation on this new feature. I would think an idea like this would be used in marketing!

Also, I'd like to adjust the settings slightly so that I could get a small warning. Or maybe a dialog confirming that it wasn't just a standard, usual, normal, regular old Adobe application crash. I do understand that it wouldn't be a good idea to let users opt out of the feature, considering that it's in the best interest of our health, but I might like to adjust the timing slightly, or maybe have the option of keeping that last 10 minutes' work for those occasional days when I'm trying to make deadlines.

Does anyone know if this feature has any settings that can be adjusted? Or does that added functionality only come with the upgraded $80/month subscription?

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer MW Design

I came here to read the forum on what else, but a break. I'm sorry for your pain, but your post made me laugh.

Thanks, Mike

2 replies

BobLevine
Community Expert
Community Expert
July 11, 2017

Like Mike, I got a chuckle out of this but there’s a lot of people here that would be happy to try and help you out.

But you’ll need to post full details including ID version, O/S and what exactly is going on.

00rhodiad
00rhodiadAuthor
Participating Frequently
July 12, 2017

Thanks Bob. It really was meant as just a snarky way to blow off steam while I waited for Indesign to restart. Gratified to see it bring lukewarm comfort to others—you know what they say about misery and company.

That said, here are my deets and a few examples of things that seem to trigger Creative Breaks:

Late 2013 27" iMac 3.4 GHz Core i5 with 16GB memory and plenty of disk space running current OS and CC versions: OS10.12.5 (16F73) and Indesign CC 2017 (12.0.0.81)

Things that sometimes help me to remember to take a break from productivity:

  • deleting a large table from a flowed text block
  • exporting a PDF again right after having exported a PDF (or doing nothing or anything after PDF export)
  • working on files over a network, you know, like you do if you're at any agency with more than one employee
  • InCopy—doing much of anything for more than an hour or so in a file with multiple icml links, sorry I can't be more specific here

I'll add to the list during my next break!

(But seriously and sincerely, thanks for the encouragement and support.)

BobLevine
Community Expert
Community Expert
July 12, 2017

First things first, CC2017.1 had a number of bug fixes and you should definitely install that.

MW Design
MW DesignCorrect answer
Inspiring
July 11, 2017

I came here to read the forum on what else, but a break. I'm sorry for your pain, but your post made me laugh.

Thanks, Mike