Background PDF export Help

[Guest]

I recently installed InDesign CS5 on my 27" iMac i5 and I'm having a problem with exporting files to PDF in the background.  I know that in CS5, pdf export is now done in the background.  Not all the time, but on many occasions when I export to PDF in the background the process freezes.  I check the background tasks manager and the process is stalled, it just sits there with 0% progress and actually freezes all background exporting functions to the point where  when I want to close the document I get an error that says" background tasks in progress can not close document".  Then I have to force quit ID to get rid of the error.  Any help?

[designerBeans]

Has anyone come up with a solution yet?

To get a PDF,

1. I have to open each doucment
2. export to PDF (which freezes)
3. Force Quit InDesign
4. Reopen InDesign
5. export my document again

All this to get one PDF and I have over 20 more to go....

[Guest]

Nope, no solution that I can see.  I wen't back to InDesign CS4 until an update comes for CS5.  You can export your CS5 documents to open in CS4 by exporting the CS5 document to "IDML"  (InDesign Markup).  Sorry.

[designerBeans]

I just spent another hour with tech support and we've figured out that new files built in CS5 are not having issues -- only those built in previous versions. So, I can convert those files to idml files and CS5 doesn't seem to have an issue making the PDFs. However, this is just a workaround and does not resolve the issue.

[Peter Spier]

If you export these files to .idml and open that and save as a new .indd in CS5, does the export proceed normally?

[designerBeans]

P Spier wrote:

If you export these files to .idml and open that and save as a new .indd in CS5, does the export proceed normally?

Yes, that was the workaround. However, that's not a practical solution for hundreds of files. I'm not sure how the cross references are going to hold up in a book situation using this process?

[Guest]

I have had problems with new files too.  Also had problems exporting IDML.

[Peter Spier]

Would you mind removing your automatic signature from your email responses, please. Aside from being spammer bait, it takes up space on the web page.

[designerBeans]

Hmmmm.... we only did a simple test on a new file and it worked. I guess I'll have to see when I build the next page/book.

[Daniel Cilia]

I am having the same issues as well with exporting to Pdf's in the background. And why did Adobe put in a cancel button in the background panel that does not work? Yet if you are doing a book export from the book panel, InDesign CS5 does not go to background printing, but works in the same way it used to do in CS4. If you have a lot of documents put them into a single book (switching off numbering) and output to Pdf from there one by one and the background Pdf 'printing' does not kick in.

Yet I hope Adobe solves this Pdf issue. It sure has to do with the new background Pdf export which is great since one can continue to work. One other thing I have noticed is that for me many times the processing stops at 9%. Once it goes over 9% than I know InDesign CS5 will not stall the export to PDF.

[designerBeans]

Daniel Cilia wrote:

Yet if you are doing a book export from the book panel, InDesign CS5 does not go to background printing, but works in the same way it used to do in CS4. If you have a lot of documents put them into a single book (switching off numbering) and output to Pdf from there one by one and the background Pdf 'printing' does not kick in.

One other thing I have noticed is that for me many times the processing stops at 9%. Once it goes over 9% than I know InDesign CS5 will not stall the export to PDF.

Daniel,

I'm with you on the exit button -- it doesn't work.

I can't make PDFs from a book either.

My background printing never gets past 0%

[robbeau]

I have found that if I just export a few pages at a time, I don't freeze. This isn't a fix by any means, but at least it's a workaround. I was able to do 10 pages at a time.

[Guest]

Yes its better if there are less pages, but once a while it blocks on even 6 pages. Hope Adobe is reading these forums and we get a corrective update. Its embarrassing for them to mess up with PDF which was, and is their flagship, in publishing! Most of us left Quark because of how well Pdf export worked from InDesign.

[robbeau]

I couldn't agree more.

[designerBeans]

dancilia wrote:

... Hope Adobe is reading these forums and we get a corrective update. Its embarrassing for them to mess up with PDF which was, and is their flagship, in publishing! Most of us left Quark because of how well Pdf export worked from InDesign.

I was thinking the same thing!

[Marvin_Sable]

I actually thought I was having the same problem. It appeared as if no progress was being made on the PDF export and I could not save the file because of the background task. After checking on this forum (leaving the document open and still exporting" I returned to the doc to find it had completed the export and was not frozen as I had suspected. Not sure if this is what others are experiencing but it appears my problem was that the export process was taking Much Much longer than prior versions and longer than I expected. Bottom line:  SLOW not Frozen!

[MatthewLaun]

I'd like to try to get to the  bottom of this and help as many customers as I can, with a workaround,  by driving a fix, or in any other ways. But to do that, I need some way  to reproduce the problem. I'd be especially grateful if one of the users  who had the issue solved by updating their .joboptions could post the  original .joboptions, and a document that demonstrates the problem when  trying to export it.

Anyone who has a case that consistently shows this  problem, try to reproduce it with the fonts and links missing (to  minimize the data you'd need to post) and if that still fails, then post  the file, and your .joboptions which you are choosing when you export.  If using custom settings, save it as a new .joboptions (preset) file and  include it.

If you need a place to post the files, try our  free Acrobat.com file storage and sharing. Or send me information for  your FTP siste, etc. You can email me directly by consulting my profile  here.

Sincerely,

Matthew

[Guest]

I would like to help out and submit some documents but I don't know what ".joboptions" is? Is that the settings of the PDF output? Thanks

Steve Webster, BFA

All Weather Windows Marketing & Design Consultant

Ph.780.447.6359

[MatthewLaun]

@Steve,

.joboptions are the file format for PDF presets shared by several Adobe applications. In InDesign's PDF export dialog, if you save a preset, you're saving a .joboptions file. I'll try to give you a call.

Matthew

[Guest]

Hello:

I just had this problem exporting PDF files again. I have attached a screen capture of the InDesign screen. I am designing a small business card, not a big file. I exported to PDF and it is now frozen in the background process. I waited 15 minutes before I forced quit the program and re-started InDesign. I have attached a full output of the art work as well as the .joboptions file for the PDF export preset I am using. I am using a preset called "Bleed" which saves the documents bleed options and places printer marks, colour bars etc. I have attached a few other screen captures showing the PDf preset as well. Let me know what you think.

After restarting InDesign and re-opening the file, I exported the PDF again using the "Bleed" preset and it worked fine. This is a spermatic problem, sometimes the background process freezes and sometimes it works OK. Thanks

[Peter Spier]

Yeah, I had a file freeze on me today, too. Worked fine once, made a minor change and it froze the next time at 83%. Did an end task on ID, restarted, and it sailed through...

[c kim]

This is sad... Unfortunately, the only solution to this problem (to date) is to "force quit" Indy, and then open the document again. You might get one or two proofs to export, but after that, it's "background task" time 

However, if anyone comes up with a solution, don't forget to "give me a shout!"

[Stix_Hart]

@ c kim, Have a look at this post here, it mentions another one on this forum too, I haven't noticed anyone saying that the script solution doesn't work....

[c kim]

I saw that posting earlier, but I'm kinda "scared" of that "script stuff."

Did you try it? And if so, did it work for you?

[Stix_Hart]

Don't be "scared" they don't bite!  Work on a copy of a document for complete ease of mind.  Yep, it worked fine, came up with the good old fashioned progress bar, mind you I haven't had half the problems most people are having...  Have a look at this post for some tips on installing them, it hasn't changed in CS5.

[c kim]

OK, I think I'm going to try it... However, I have a question (please excuse my ignorance), Once I "select" the code, do I place it in a "TexEdit" page and name it something? And if that's the case, what should I name it?