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Answered

Do I really need 250 Plug Ins for InDesign?

Forum|Forum|3 years ago
August 18, 2022
5 replies
1603 views

Hello,

First let me state that I'm not an IT person. I've inherited my job from previous graphic artists.

InDesign takes roughly 20 minutes to open, which is crazy, and I can see that it also registers 250 plug ins. I can't magine I'd need so many. How do I know which ones I need and which I don't?

What would happen if I just reset to the basic InDesign app?

Also I might note that the Plug Ins appear to be buried in the system whereas they used to be easier to locate.

Any assistance would be most appreciated, thank you. 🙂

Performance

This topic has been closed for replies.

Correct answer James Gifford—NitroPress

I'd say you've taken over a position formerly filled by one or more plug-in mavens. I can't remember a shop/department that really used more than about 10-12, even if others were kept on file.

I'd do a completely clean installation of ID after making sure you have the sources or links for at least most of those plug-ins. Then plug them in as you encounter legacy docs or tasks that (1) use them and (2) really need them. With that many, I suspect some are functionally outdated or the tasks can be achieved with simpler, in-built features.

The one thing you don't want to do, unless you are doing so with complete confidence, is lose, delete or inactivate any plug-ins that are essential to the job's workflow. That may be the biggest hurdle, reviewing all the plugins and making sure you will still have them on hand.

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Willi Adelberger

Community Expert

All functionality in InDesign and InCopy is built in with plugins. Bot programs are essentially Plugins-Manager. So it is possible to move functionality from InCopy to InDesign. Most of the Plugins are hidden for the user. You can see them, if you go into the program icon on the Mac (right Mouse click > Show Package content). I strongly recommend to remove one of these pugins, if you are not exactly sure, what they are for and how the whole application depends on it.

This program architecture allows for the developer a maximal flexibility to expand or repair functionality.

J

JGCreate2010

Participating Frequently

Thank you.

I followed you steps and saw the plug-ins. I removed the Incopy-InDesign plugin and relaunched the app. (I never use InCopy).

It opened in less than 2 minutes.

Willi Adelberger

Community Expert

You can work with the InCopy functionality without even have installed InCopy. E.g. you can export a story as an InCopy Story and place this story on any other place and if you make a change on one place, all other instances where it was placed. I would not uninstall any plugin inside the app folder if you are not a vere experienced user.

J

JGCreate2010

Participating Frequently

So, basically, the answer to the problem that I get from reading the replies is: "It's not an Adobe problem (even though the last version of Indesign worked well) it's the end user or the computer's fault.

Frankly, I've been using ID since ID2 came out around 1995 or 96. I've never had the problem with the long time it takes to open ID 2023 with previous versions. I have also never added any third party Plug-Ins. I would say if the problem didn't exists before updating the software and the only change I made was updating the software, it is not my nor my computer's fault.

James Gifford—NitroPress

Legend

If 99% of us have no such problem, it's not likely to be a fault of the application. Just sayin'.

It may well be "InDesign's fault" in that something has changed that causes this interference on your platform (CPU, GPU, OS, resources)... so it's arguable as to whether the app or your system is "the cause."

But as this is a fairly rare occurrence, it seems likely that finding the drag point on your system is more productive than waiting for Adobe to blindly change back whatever app aspect caused the new behavior on your system.

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J

JGCreate2010

Participating Frequently

Oh. Ok. I guess you have the data to back up that 99% of users don't have they slow opening problem and your statistics takes into account the possibility that a large number of those with the problem just ignores it or do what I have done in the past and just don't quit the application unless I need to.

Robert at ID-Tasker

Legend

What platform ?

How much RAM ?

How much HDD space left ?

What kind of HDD / SSD ?

Do you work over network - permanently connected/shared drives ?

T

Test Screen Name

Legend

I think people may be assuming that you mean THIRD PARTY plug-ins. It's easy to end up with a lot, and you can get rid of the ones you don't need. However, InDesign comes with a lot of plug-ins. That's how it was made, since InDesign 1.0. It is a small core, and everything else is added through plug-ins, doing all the normal things which you think of as part of InDesign. It was supposed to make it more reliable and maintainable, not convinced but that was the idea. I just looked at InDesign 2017, it has at least 150 plug-ins. DON'T MESS WITH THESE. Not for a second. Don't try to tidy up, or optimize, or decide what you really need. Nothing.

I see InDesign is taking you 20 minutes to open. This is a real problem, but be careful not to make big assumptions about the cause. Everyone has those system plug-ins, and it doesn't take them 20 minutes. So you probably need to look elsewhere for the cause.

James Gifford—NitroPress

Legend

Yes, I was ass/u/ming the OP meant mostly third-party, add-on plugins. On review, I'm not clear which was meant.

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James Gifford—NitroPressCorrect answer

Legend

I'd say you've taken over a position formerly filled by one or more plug-in mavens. I can't remember a shop/department that really used more than about 10-12, even if others were kept on file.

I'd do a completely clean installation of ID after making sure you have the sources or links for at least most of those plug-ins. Then plug them in as you encounter legacy docs or tasks that (1) use them and (2) really need them. With that many, I suspect some are functionally outdated or the tasks can be achieved with simpler, in-built features.

The one thing you don't want to do, unless you are doing so with complete confidence, is lose, delete or inactivate any plug-ins that are essential to the job's workflow. That may be the biggest hurdle, reviewing all the plugins and making sure you will still have them on hand.

—

C

chrisdirectfxAuthor

Participating Frequently

Thank you very much. I will try this and see what happens.

Rishabh_Tiwari

Legend

Hi,

Sorry to hear about the trouble. Please try the suggestions shared above and if you need help in doing the clean installation, please try the steps shared here https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-cloud/kb/cc-cleaner-tool-installation-problems.html

For slow performance, you can try the suggestions shared here https://helpx.adobe.com/indesign/kb/slow-performance-indesign.html

Feel free to reach out if you need any further assistance.

Regards

Rishabh

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