Do I really need 250 Plug Ins for InDesign?

[chrisdirectfx]

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. 🙂

[James Gifford—NitroPress · Accepted solution]

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 With that many, I suspect some are functionally outdated or the tasks can be achieved with simpler, in-built features.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.

—

[chrisdirectfx]

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

[Rishabh_Tiwari]

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 
 

[Test Screen Name]

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]

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

—

[Peter Spier]

Long load times are often caused by insufficent hard drive space or memory.

[James Gifford—NitroPress]

A great many "slow load" issues in recent months, particularly on Macs, seem to be related to network access issues, such as taking forever to validate a document's component files or fonts.

—

[chrisdirectfx]

Thank you everyone for your assistance. I've uninstalled and re-installed ID and it's now only about 6 minutes to open. I did see it's still registering 250 plug-ins, which I'm assuming are all part of the application itself. I'll check other areas to speed up the process. Thanks again!

[James Gifford—NitroPress]

A typical load to an empty workspace (no document being opened) is probably... 10 seconds. So there are still issues to look into for a more efficient work day. 🙂

—

[Robert Tkaczyk]

What platform ?

How much RAM ?

How much HDD space left ?

What kind of HDD / SSD ?

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

[JGCreate2010]

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]

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.

—

[JGCreate2010]

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.

[James Gifford—NitroPress]

I doubt any large number of users are waiting 10 minutes for ID to load without saying something about it, yes. All the evidence is that this is a very uncommon problem. Adobe may fix it someday. You can wait if you like, or you can accept that some bit in your system is the hook it's hanging on, and try to fix it.

I've also been using Adobe and most competing software since about that time, and predecessor software for a few years before that. One of the things I've learned is that while both hardware and software makers are imperfect and often make changes (sometimes, yes == screwups), a user doing everything he or she can to get around the problem goes a long ways.

It may simply be that some bit of the systems that evidence this fault were never really compatible with Creative Suite... but got by anyway. Now they don't. Complaining loudly in a user-to-user forum is unlikely to fix the problem regardless of its cause, though.

—

[JGCreate2010]

I should add, that I've used Adobe products since 1987. I started out with Pagemaker, switched to Quark Express for awhile and then switched to Indesign 2 when it came out. I've always believed Adobe to be the premier layout and design software. That being said, they do sometimes make changes to the software that creates a learning curve on how to use the software productively.

[Robert Tkaczyk]

Do you have any network drives connected?

My ID is loading quickly - as before - the only slowdown I'm experiencing is when I'm trying to access Package - it takes at least 20 seconds every time - when before it was instant - and i don't have any network storage attached and nothing in my configuration changed. 

[JGCreate2010]

No netword drives connected. And, I'm not discussing the opening of files but the opening of the application itself.

[JGCreate2010]

Unless you're asking about the physical drive I use for Time Machine on the iMac.

[Robert Tkaczyk]

Yes, I'm talki about the app not the files.

Don't have mac so no idea what you're talking about 😉 but maybe ID is checking some extra stuff on all the drives available in the system and something is slowing it down? 

[James Gifford—NitroPress]

It does seem as if most of these 'extreme slowdown on startup' issues boil down to network and external drive permissions, and app changes either adding access that was not formerly used or changing how startup or document elements are catalogued on startup/open.

Temporarily disconnecting network or external drives, even 'passive' ones, would be a first troubleshooting step in these cases. After all, "that can't possibly be the problem" often holds unpleasant surprises after hours of checking everything else. 🙂

—

[Willi Adelberger]

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.

[JGCreate2010]

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]

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.

[JGCreate2010]

Been using Indesign since Indesign 2 came out. 

I would say that makes me an experienced user.