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stepha67358027
Inspiring
November 12, 2020
Question

InDesign CC 2021 (16.0) crashes while exporting PDFs

  • November 12, 2020
  • 6 replies
  • 1141 views

I produce a professional magazine which I need to send to the printer. I'm using the new version of Indesign (2021 x64), on Windows 10 Pro, and it will not export to PDF. InDesign just closes about 20 seconds after I select to export to PDF. Is there a fix available?

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    6 replies

    L
    Community Expert
    LaubenderCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    November 16, 2020

    Stephanie said:
    "I appreciate all of your suggestions.

    I didn't try to install a PPD file, as the Indesign 2021 did not install itself into a folder at all. Weird."

     

    Then something went totally wrong while installing InDesign 2021 on your machine.

    If you have access to your applications folder on your machine you should see something like I show in the screenshot below ( from my German Windows 10 machine ) :

    As you can see a Presets folder is there and if you scroll down you see the InDesign.exe file:

     

     

    Regards,
    Uwe Laubender

    ( ACP )

    L
    Community Expert
    LaubenderCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    November 13, 2020

    Thanks Randy for suggesting printing to PostScript, distilling to PDF.

    Yes, this could be something one should test in this situation.

     

    To stephaniea67358027:

    In order to enable InDesign for this kind of workflow one needs to "install" a special PPD file in a subfolder of the application folder of InDesign:

     

    Adobe InDesign 2021 > Presets > PPDs

    Create the folder if it is not there; name it exactly like that:

    PPDs

     

    Put the following PPD file to the folder:

    ADPDF9.PPD

     

    To get the file and a description of the process follow the steps from this article:

    https://helpx.adobe.com/indesign/kb/add-acrobat-ppd.html

     

    If you are unsure how to access and configure Acrobat Distiller for converting a PostScript file to PDF please come back and simply ask.

     

    Regards,
    Uwe Laubender

    ( ACP )

    S
    stepha67358027Author
    Inspiring
    November 13, 2020

    I appreciate all of your suggestions.

    I didn't try to install a PPD file, as the Indesign 2021 did not install itself into a folder at all. Weird. It only installed a executable program file. I've used Distiller years ago, but now I can't figure out how to export a PS file using InDesign 2021. I didn't try the IDML export; because I decided to reinstall InDesign 2020 (15.1.3). I'm completing the job with version 15.1.3.

    I'm thinking my problems with InDesign 2021 involve a much larger issue. It crashes when I try to "Share for Review" feature too. (However, "Share for Review" works in the 2020 version.) And I'm having trouble with Photoshop 2021. Photoshop 2021 won't open a file and the program won't close/exit. I have to end the program by ending the task in task manager. I had to revert to Photoshop 2020 to work with a JPG file.

    I realize I'm venting now, but I'm really frustrated with the Adobe CC 2021 products so far. I work for a small non-profit org and have limited resources. I don't have the time to figure out how to finesse the software.

    Randy Hagan
    Community Expert
    Randy HaganCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    November 13, 2020

    On my system, printing to PostScript® File is listed right beneath my preferred Dell Postscript printer PPD in the Printer: options box within InDesign's Print dialog. Might be a legacy thing, PostScript® nomenclature is pretty old, but hopefully that didn't get blown away in your upgrade.

     

    Hope this helps,

     

    Randy

    Randy Hagan
    Community Expert
    Randy HaganCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    November 13, 2020

    Have you tried outputting a .ps file and creating a PDF with Acrobat Distiller using your preferred PDF preset? Printing to PDF using the Adobe PDF driver to your preferred PDF preset? 

     

    These are not the preferred way to create a PDF, but you're on deadline. I'd try the .ps output to Distiller workflow first. Have your printer QC the PDF in preflight to ensure there are no rude surprises.

     

    Good luck,

     

    Randy

      L
      Community Expert
      LaubenderCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      November 13, 2020

      Hi stephaniea67358027,

      do you still have the previous version of InDesign installed?

      I would export to IDML and open the IDML file with the previous version as document and try to work on from there.

      After the conversion you have to check all pages. Exchage with IDML is not perfect. Could also be that features behave differently in previous versions.

       

      FWIW: Production wise I always test a new version of InDesign before doing actual production.

      Sometimes this process takes months or even years, because InDesign is only one component in the chain of workflow steps.

       

      Regards,
      Uwe Laubender

      ( ACP )

      Ashutosh_Mishra
      Ashutosh_Mishra
      Inspiring
      November 13, 2020

      Hi Stephanie,

       

      Sorry to hear about this. Does it crash while exporting a specific document? If yes, it could be a file specific issue. You may try dividing the pages and exporting them, you may find the corrupted page/link/text frame/graphic which might be causing the issue.
      Another thing would be to save the file as IDML and then try working on the file. Let us know how it goes.

       

      Regards,

      Ashutosh

      Derek Cross
      Community Expert
      Derek CrossCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      November 12, 2020

      Which OS version?

      Have you tried resetting your InDesign preferences?

      S
      stepha67358027Author
      Inspiring
      November 13, 2020

      I'm on Windows 10 Pro (64-bit OS). I just reset my InDesign preferences and rebooted my computer. Unfortunately, InDesign crashed again while exporting to PDF.

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