Indesign CS4/CS3 and Export to PDF problems

[Samuli75]

Hello,

I have been having problems with both Indesign CS3 and CS4 and exporting large documents to a PDF-file. Exporting halts with error messages like: "Failed to Export the PDF file" in CS4 or "Error encountered while reading JPEG image" in CS3.

Problem can be corrected by simply closing InDesign and restarting it and opening the same file again. It appears that problem occurs more often the file is large. Any suggestions how to fix this problem?

I'm using Vista 64-bit and have 8GB memory.

[Peter Spier]

How much free space on Drive C:? Emptying the temp folders may help.

[Samuli75]

And I also get error "Error encountered while reading JPEG image. Image may be damaged or incompatible. Resave the image with different settings and try again." when Exportin to PDf.

And if I just save/quit/reopen, I'm able to export the pdf fine. Sometimes I have to close other programs, before I'm succesful.

[Samuli75]

Free space on C is 20.7GB.

[Peter Spier]

I have a vague memory, too that there are problems with JPEG2000 files, but that doesn't seem like the problem if you can get the same file to work after a restart. Empty the temp folders and see if it helps.

[Dov Isaacs]

In terms of Vista 64-bit, InDesign only runs as a 32-bit applications meaning that it only has approximately 3 gigabytes of virtual memory available, regardless of how much physical memory is available on your system. Only 64-bit applications, such as Photoshop CS4 can really take full advantage of the 64-bit addressing.

I also encountered similar problems with exporting PDF from very large documents with InDesign 5.0.x on all versions of Windows. That problem seems to have gone away with InDesign 6.0, at least for my very large documents. I suspect that there may be some process memory leak problem that you are encountering. What got me around those problems was (1) save early and save often and (2) exit and re-enter InDesign before performing such large exports, making sure that you don't page through the document prior to doing the export.

- Dov

[_nocfury_]

Every time we open a document that was created in InDesign CS3, edit it, and try to export or print it, we get generic failed errors. Whether printing to a printer or Acrobat, or exporting a PDF, we always get a failure.

We've discovered that if we go through and manually re-link all of the links, it fixes it.

Wow... what a dumb bug, and one that has cost us a horrendous amount of time on large projects.

Adobe, please release a fix for this immediately.

Thank you.

[_Kenneth_Benson_]

nocfurry: This is a user-to-user forum. Adobe reps don't necessarily
read these posts. No one here is going to release a fix. If you think
you've found a bug, please report it at

http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/mmform/index.cfm?name=wishform

I've opened plenty of CS3 files with linked graphics in CS4 and I
haven't seen any errors. Do your linked files reside on a network?

--
Kenneth Benson
Pegasus Type, Inc.
www.pegtype.com

[_nocfury_]

Thanks Kenneth - there is a post on this thread from someone claiming to be from Adobe however.

Yes you're right; we just realized this problem is far more severe than simply a CS3 compatibility bug. This is an intrinsic design flaw in the InDesign linking system. We used to use Version Cue CS3 until they unleashed VC4 upon us and nearly crippled our entire studio with that nightmare of a release. So we moved all of our data safely onto a shared network drive before we lost anymore of it in VC4, and apparently that's what has caused the linking problem. InDesign does not have relative links, and it does not properly indicate that it's the links that are causing the problem, leaving us to fend for ourselves and eventually figure out on our own that we have to re-link everything.

Disastrous. Someone needs to be fired.

[_Kenneth_Benson_]

> there is a post on this thread from someone claiming to be from Adobe
> however.

User-to-user doesn't mean Adobe employees are excluded. It means that
this is people helping people, maybe even some of them from Adobe. It
also means that no one here is going to fix the software for you.

Does the problem go away if you get your files off the network? Network
file linking problems are pretty common, and the simplest workaround is
to stop working through the network.

> Disastrous. Someone needs to be fired.

User-to-user also means that ranting gets you ignored.

--
Kenneth Benson
Pegasus Type, Inc.
www.pegtype.com

[Peter Spier]

>InDesign does not have relative links

ID is smart enough to look in subfolders of the folder in which the document is stored, but how would you expect any application to find a link with an unspecified path on an external server? There's no way you'd be sure you have the right link if there were multiple files with the same name, which is not that unusual.

>and it does not properly indicate that it's the links that are causing the problem

Actually, it does. You should have received a warning when the file was opened that the links were missing. I know because that feature was missing in early pre-release versions and I fought a hard battle to get it restored. Missing links are also highlighted in the links panel and in pre-flight. If you don't know you have missing or modified links it's because you've turned off features and ignored a warning on open.

[_damian_lamartine_]

I'm encountering a pdf exporting issue where the exported pdf file is way too high in file size. I've tried reducing all the settings to intolerable settings and file size is still not changing. I've tried to reduce the file size in preview but this only seems to increase the size.
I don't have acrobat pro so I can't go in to the pdf and remove all the metadata, to reduce the size. I never had this problem with Cs2. Any ideas out there?

thanks

Damian

[_nocfury_]

Hi Peter & Kenneth,

Many programs understand relative paths. If I move a project directory (and keep all its subdirectories intact), opening up that project in InDesign should result in no differences to me. Instead, I have to re-link each file that already exists in the projects subfolder. Why? This makes no sense. Call it ranting if you want, but this seems like a pretty major oversight to me. I am a paying customer and when Adobe introduces a bug or misses such a critical feature, I have every right to complain.

And yes, I realize that InDesign has an area where it warns you about missing links (the... uhh... *Links* panel). I have been using InDesign since it was introduced (and was a very vocal advocate of it over Quark), it's just that this notification function *does not work* in this particular instance. There is NO visual clue as to why you are not able to export or print anything, and the error simply states itself as an error and thats it. Several of the people in my studio spent several hours today all struggling with the same problem until someone stumbled upon the solution with trial and error. Not acceptable. If you think that it is, then you are not the target of my messages and I will thank you for your response but encourage you to spend your time replying to other threads that apply more directly to you.

Thanks.

[SimonWarner]

Works for me. Indesign does understand relative paths. If I move a
directory it still knows where the links in subdirectories go.

As you say, it makes no sense that it would work as you describe.

[_Kenneth_Benson_]

> I have every right to complain.

You're missing the point. You're complaining to other *paying
customers*. No one here is going to fix your bug. If you really have a
bug, file a report at

http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/mmform/index.cfm?name=wishform

> Not acceptable. If you think that it is,

I really have no opinion about it. I'm not seeing the behavior you're
seeing, so it's really easy for me to believe you're getting yourself
all worked up about nothing, especially because:

1) You haven't answered my question. Does the problem go away when you
get the files off the network?

2) You haven't answered Peter's question. In Edit > Preferences > File
Handling, is "Check Links Before Opening Document" turned off? How about
"Find Missing Links Before Opening Document"? What is "Default Relink
Folder" set to?

--
Kenneth Benson
Pegasus Type, Inc.
www.pegtype.com

[Peter Spier]

Handling of missing links HAS changed, and in my opinion for the worse, but at the request of users, so that missing links no longer open the Links panel automatically or ask you to update on opening as they used to, though you should still receive a warning that the links are missing UNLESS YOU HAVE TURNED IT OFF IN YOUR PREFERENCES. It's on by default and you will find the option under the file handling section.

The rationale is that many workflows do not require that links be intact to accomplish the current editing, and longer documents with hundreds of missing links used to take many minutes to open while ID searched, essentially costing those users lots of money.

IF you have stored the links in the same directory as the .indd file, and IF you have moved the entire directory and IF you have enabled finding missing links when opening files, InDesign will find and update the locations for the links when the file is opened. If ID is unable to locate a link, because it is not in the current directory or a subfolder, you will see a warning message (in the past you would have had the option to browse for the missing files), and you must open the links panel if you wish to fix them manually.

In my opinion this is a very acceptable situation, and a great benefit to all types of workflows. I need to know links are modified or missing, so I've left that enabled. Those who don't need to know are no longer bothered or delayed. I suggest you pay a visit to the preferences and make sure that missing/modified checks are enabled, and if you are still having problems then your links aren't stored in the same directory, and that has always been an issue in ID when things get moved.

[_Lauren_Anderson_]

Hey everyone, I am trying to open a CS3 file in CS1 and was wondering if exporting it in a PDF then opening it in Illustrator to make changes works for you. Any other ideas for editing this file? Thanks!

[Dov Isaacs]

On behalf of Adobe Systems Incorporated ...

Adobe Illustrator is not, repeat not, repeat yet AGAIN not a general PDF file editor. The only PDF files that Adobe Illustrator can edit losslessly are PDF files saved by the same version of Illustrator using the save editability option available at PDF file creation time. Any and all other attempts to edit PDF files with Adobe Illustrator may and very often result in (1) loss of content, (2) text encoding changes, and/or (3) color space changes.

Opening and editing general PDF files (and I include PDF files created either directly via PDF export from InDesign or those created via distillation of PostScript from InDesign) is therefore strongly discouraged as a dangerous workflow practice.

- Dov

[Peter Spier]

Any attempt to edit an ID CS3 file in CS1 is an invitation for disaster. It's time to bite the bullet and upgrade.

[BobLevine]

> Any attempt to edit an ID CS3 file in CS1 is an invitation for disaster.

Actually it's a recipe for frustration...it can't be done.

Bob

[Peter Spier]

Not directly, but a pass through two steps of .inx could be done, and I'd hate to see what gets mangled. :)

[_tsquareddragrat_]

I have a 29 page indesign document that I am trying to export to PDF. One page in particular (pg 4) continually prompts a failure screen that says the application has run out of virtual memory.
There are two PDF files linked to the page, each approximately 1.75 MB is size, and each having a vector frame. One of the images spills over onto pg 5 and a pdf (3.7MB) from page 5 is partially present on page 4. Pg 5 has no problem exporting.
I'm running AdobeCS3 with Windows Vista Ultimate on a Dell Precision 4300 (Intel Core2 Duo T7700 2.4 GHz, 3.58 GB RAM, 32 operating system.

I need to fix this ASAP. Any help is appreciated.

[Peter Spier]

Have you tried Dov's suggestion in post #5?

Peter

[_Skyline_1]

Just curious. How are we defining "long document" in this thread?

We have an 84-pg. directory, a 32-pg. real estate guide, and will soon have a 200+ pg. book in production. Are all of these "long documents?"

[MatthewLaun]

There is a fix in the CS4 6.0.1 update which changes how memory is allocated when exporting with downsampling enabled. I'm not certain that this is what users in this thread are experiencing, but it would be good try try and provide feedback about if it solves your problems.

http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/product.jsp?product=31&platform=Windows