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Participant
March 23, 2018
Question

Export to PDF gets stuck at various percentage

  • March 23, 2018
  • 5 replies
  • 16208 views

I am exporting a poster into a print PDF and the export gets stuck - at 4%, 12%, 17% etc. The percentage varies.


I have tried:

- quitting InDesign

- updating InDesign to the latest CC version

- restarting comptuter, updating the system ( MacOS High Sierra 10.13.3)

Export to other formats - jpeg for example - works without any issues.

Anyone has a suggestion how to fix this?

thanks!

This topic has been closed for replies.

5 replies

Participant
December 6, 2022

I had the same issue. It accured for me while applicating effects to characters & type (bevel and emboss, shadow, etc) 

I changed export format to newer PDF/X-4 instead of PDF/X-1-1a:2001 (legendary fool proof profile for every print job)

You may try PDF/X-3 too.

best regards

detailed_Mist0D4C
Participant
July 6, 2023

Thank you!! This was the only route that resolved my issue but changing PDF/X format to newer option!

Dave Creamer of IDEAS
Community Expert
Community Expert
March 24, 2018

It doesn't look like it is stuck but pausing during processing. It could be hitting ultra high-res images and having to process them.

Either view the Background Tasks to view where it is pausing. You can usually see what page number. Inspect that page for problems.

(Or disable Background Tasks as mentioned earlier.)

David Creamer: Community Expert (ACI and ACE 1995-2023)
Derek Cross
Community Expert
Community Expert
March 24, 2018

Are you using one of the InDesign Adobe PDF Presets?

lonelimeAuthor
Participant
March 26, 2018

Yes, I am exporting to the print preset - PDF/X-1a:2001

Derek Cross
Community Expert
Community Expert
March 26, 2018

It's usually recommended (unless you have a spec supplied by your printer) to use PDF/X-4.

amaarora
Inspiring
March 24, 2018

Hi,

How many pages does your document have?

Have you tried to export the document page wise?

-Aman

winterm
Legend
March 23, 2018

Two more things to try:

1. Abandon that silly Background exporting:

Create blank text file named DisableAsyncExports.txt and place it in MAC OS: /Applications/Adobe InDesign XX/Adobe InDesign XX.app/Contents/MacOS/DisableAsyncExports.txt

(that said, path where your ID is installed).

2. If you're working on network, collect your ID doc and all linked files (package) locally on your HD, and export from here.

lonelimeAuthor
Participant
March 26, 2018

Oh, thanks!

I was originally exporting from file placed on Dropbox, but packaging and placing file on the HD didnt help.

However, thanks for the tip to abandon background export. It is really helpful to see the export process and exactly where it gets stuck. It seems placed unembedded vector files were causing the issue. I have embedded them and all went smoothly. If you could suggest why were vector causing these problems, would be great.

winterm
Legend
March 26, 2018

Hard to tell without having file on hands. As a first step, I'd try to open that ai in Illy and resave / save as to another name, place in ID again. If this won't work, copy/paste the artwork to new Illy file, save, place to ID. When saving in Illy, don't forget enable Create PDF Compatible File option in Save/Illustrator Options dialog box.

If this won't work either, you should inspect that artwork closer. Something's really wrong there.