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darius93
Participant
May 20, 2010
Answered

InDesign CS5 will not "save" or "save as"

  • May 20, 2010
  • 18 replies
  • 75572 views

Hey.

So I've been working on this document for about an hour and I went in to save it for the first time, which I know is bad, the "save" and "save as" buttons are grayed out. I've tried looking through the preferences, and I've tried looking through the different modes I'm in but nothing is working.

The file is a web document and there is nothing special in it, just rectangles and a picture placed from a photoshop file, which I suspect is the problem. But InDesign lets me create a new file, any type, but once I do anything to the new file I again cannot save it at all. Some other glitches have been going on too, such as the hot corners have been buggy (not working sometimes) and when I drag a rectangle, the whole document fills with the color of the rectangle, making it impossible for me to get the positioning I want.

Lastly, I've been reading about clearing the preferences' cache and other things similar to that but I don't know if that is the solution. Also I would like to try to not restart InDesign before trying other ways because I've bee working on this file for a while. But if that's the only way I can get it to be working again, I do it.

Thanks.

    This topic has been closed for replies.
    Correct answer Peter Spier

    Can you export to .idml? if you can, do it and close ID and reset the preferences, then make a new doc to test and see if you can save before trying to work withthe.idml file.

    If you can't export either, you've more than likely lost you work, but there's one more really drastic thing you can try, and that's force close InDesign (use Task Manager on Windows or Force Quit on Mac), then replace the prefs and relaunch ID. You should be asked if you want to recover, but it may just happen without asking. Immediately try to save again with a new name or export to .idml.

    Good luck.

    18 replies

    Show previous replies
    M
    Adobe Employee
    MatthewLaun
    Adobe Employee
    January 27, 2011

    All,

    Here's what I have so far in my attempts to identify a root cause for this so we can work towards a resolution.

    Working with a particular user directly, I sent a script written to save any open files and had them try to run it while in this state. The script returned the error, "Cannot save document because there are open transactions on the database." The database is referring to the InDesign document, and the open transaction is some change that was started, but for some reason failed to complete. So the application is still waiting for something to complete before it will alow certain actions, like a save command.

    That still leaves me looking for the trigger that starts, but fails to complete some change to the document, which is a needle in a haystack still.

    Things that I'd like to learn more include:

    * What is your OS version? So far, all seem to be 10.6.6, no Windows users. If anyone is on something other than 10.6.6, please let me know.

    * Status of background tasks. When you're in this state, check Window > Utilities > Background Tasks and see if anything is reported there (I'm doubtful).

    * Disablement of Preflight (as mentioned in my previous post).

    * Any other side effects that you notice while in this state, such as the X,Y position behavior noted above.

    * When in this state, can you create a new document and save it.

    Thanks for your help, and patience.

    Matthew

      M
      Adobe Employee
      MatthewLaun
      Adobe Employee
      January 27, 2011

      For anyone who is experiencing this issue with regular frequency, I'd like to ask if you can try the following.

      Disable Preflight:

      1) Choose Window > Output > Preflight.

      2) Uncheck the On checkbox.

      3) Work in this application state for as long as you can manage, and see if the issue returns.

      Please alert us to your results.

      Sincerely,

      Matthew

      M
      Adobe Employee
      MatthewLaun
      Adobe Employee
      January 12, 2011

      First,

      Thanks to Peter for bringing this to my attention.

      I'd like to help, but this is going to be a tough one, and will probably require someone who is consistently experiencing the problem working with me through a process of eliminating variables (such as use of a font management system) then workfing for a while to see if the change prevents the problem from occuring. If someone is prepared to work with me on such a project, please contact me through a private message.

      Sincerely,

      Matthew

      Peter Spier
      Community Expert
      Peter SpierCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      January 12, 2011

      Thank you, Matthew.

      For those who are following this and may not be aware of who he is, Matthew is a member of the InDesign team. It was through his similar efforts that problems with PDF export hangs were identified and resolved. I hope at least one of you, Lonzo in particular since he seems to be having repeatable problems, is able to work with Matthew.

      L
      Lonzo2204
      Participating Frequently
      January 12, 2011

      I'll be glad to help beginning next week. Matthew said to reply through a private message. Don't know how to send a private message.

      H
      Helen Stutchbury
      Participant
      December 14, 2010

      I've been working on a 60 page document that hasn't been able to save, save as, create a copy, command Z or frankly, anything useful that makes me feel my work is going to be safe. I'm not willing to crash it and risk re-opening to find everything I've created is gone.

      I've got the .idml files here, and when I first open it up, it will allow me to save/save as, but as soon as I click into a text box to make changes, it's back to being greyed out.

      I'm afraid to shut down, I'm afraid to lose everything and how is this software supposed to be a useful business tool if I end up spending 2 - 3 times the time it takes to build the thing trying to figure out how to make it save.

      Peter Spier
      Community Expert
      Peter SpierCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      December 14, 2010

      Your .idml files should be safe. They open as a new Untitled document (essentially a copy) so anthing you are doing currently is not affecting the files you exported to disk. I know this is very scary, but all evidence here points to a force quit and prefs replacement as the best option.

      E
      emmahunter2010
      Participating Frequently
      December 14, 2010

      Peter, Do you work for Adobe?  Can I be talked through what I need to do.  I'm a bit rubbish with technology and struggling with the idea of resetting all my preferences... I can see there is a preferences option, but it does not seam to have anything that would appear to effect the saving of files...is there a no. i can call to be directed?  I've not been on indesign since I had to loose my work... I've got a pdf copy of it but not an in-design version.  I know the next time I use it I will come across the same problem and feel v. annoyed/ frustrated with it being such a fundamental error with what is v. expensive software...

      hope you can help.

      emma.

      L
      Lonzo2204
      Participating Frequently
      November 28, 2010

      I'm back -- previously could not "save" or "save as." When that happened (and it happened quite frequently -- 20 or 30 times), I was able to export IDML and open IDML file without problem. Now when I attempt to export as either pdf or IDML, InDesign crashes.

      It says:

      Exception Type:  EXC_BAD_ACCESS (SIGBUS)

      Exception Codes: KERN_PROTECTION_FAILURE at 0x0000000000000000

      Crashed Thread:  28

      This has happened repeatedly (8 to 10 times in the last two days). I have submitted crash reports to Adobe.

      What's going on? What can I do to fix? I've already reset my preferences.

      Only software running (beside InDesign and Acrobat) Font Management - Universal Type Client and Safari.

      Thank you.

      Nini Tjader
      Nini Tjader
      Participating Frequently
      November 28, 2010

      Check that your fonts are OK.

      Check permissions.

      Check that harddisk is OK.

      L
      Lonzo2204
      Participating Frequently
      October 30, 2010

      Three days ago, I upgraded to CS5 on new MacBook Pro. I, too, have documents that cannot "save" or "save as." First time it happened (two days ago), I pulled down Updates from website and thought the problem was solved. Tonight, it happened again.

      Documents are part of long term complex project created in CS3 -- too complex to export. My only option is to repeatedly lose my changes, reboot and restart. Is Adobe working on the fix to this programming glitsch?

      Peter Spier
      Community Expert
      Peter SpierCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      October 30, 2010

      Unless they tell us, which they usuallly don't nobody here knows anything more than you about what sorts bugs have been reported and might be in develpoment for solution. This is not a commonly reported problem here, by the way, which doesn't help you, but means there's a good chance the issue is on your system rather than in the application.

      The best advice for a complex project begun in CS3 would be to finish in CS3, but it's probably too late for that if you've alread converted any files. Going back requires export from cs5 to .idml. opening that in CS4 and exporting to .inx and opening that in CS3. There are quite a few reports of less-than-stellar performance of legacy files opened and converted in CS5, and I generally at this point recommend exporting .inx or .idml form the original application and opening that in CS5 rather than opening the .indd as it seems to have a better track record.

      The next best option, if you can't work with the original versions any longer, is to export to .idml in CS5 and save that as a new .indd. That might be a pain in the neck for your project, but it has to be better than losing your work. Save everything with new names so you don't overwrite any existing files.

      L
      Lonzo2204
      Participating Frequently
      October 30, 2010

      I exported one chapter (of 11) as .idml, opened and saved as .indd. It worked well. New .indd file "saved" ok with minor changes. But then, my updated CS5 .indd files "saved" for two days after first experiencing problem. Time will tell. What does exporting as .idml do to the file? At the time I exported, I was able to "save" and "save as" (having already rebooted and restarted). Is new .indd file different than if I had "saved" or "saved as" without the .idml export?

      Regarding suggestion that problem is with my system, rather than CS -- new computer, fresh install. OS Leopard to Snow Leopard and CS3 to CS5 most significant changes.

      Are software developers aware that "a few of us" have been experiencing this issue?

      N
      naine3
      Participant
      July 11, 2010

      Hei,

      I'm having a similar problem, I start working on a .indd file, all's well, but after a while when I try to save again, it's not possible anymore. I tried the trick with resetting the preferences, but it keeps reappearing, even in the session directly after a pref reset. Anybody any ideas?

      Cheers, naine

      A
      Anonymous
      October 8, 2010

      This exact same problem happened to me last night -- it was very stressful !!

      But I tried the solution that was recommended here and it worked, so I'm VERY grateful for your advice here.  None of my InDesign documents could be saved -- the SAVE and SAVE AS options were both greyed back.  So I exported my main document (that I had most recently worked on and didn't want to lose) as an idml file and quit InDesign.  I then restarted my MacBook Pro, and reopened the idml file, resaved it as an indd and everything worked fine!  My other documents opened OK and could be saved, etc.

      My main concern now is that I'm worried that this problem might happen again in the future.  I work for a magazine a & had only just started on the next issue, so it wouldn't be a huge deal if I lost my new work.  However, if I had had 90% of the work done and was getting it ready for the printer, I would be extremely stressed.

      I'm using CS5 on my MacBook Pro -- I bought both of these within the past 2 weeks.

      Does anyone have any ideas as to what might be causing this problem and what users could do to prevent it from happening again?  I never had anything like this happen in CS3.

      Thanks,

      Rob

      W
      whatzitabout_
      Participant
      January 12, 2011

      GreenDiesel-CNR wrote:

      This exact same problem happened to me last night -- it was very stressful !!

      But I tried the solution that was recommended here and it worked, so I'm VERY grateful for your advice here.  None of my InDesign documents could be saved -- the SAVE and SAVE AS options were both greyed back.  So I exported my main document (that I had most recently worked on and didn't want to lose) as an idml file and quit InDesign.  I then restarted my MacBook Pro, and reopened the idml file, resaved it as an indd and everything worked fine!  My other documents opened OK and could be saved, etc.

      My main concern now is that I'm worried that this problem might happen again in the future.  I work for a magazine a & had only just started on the next issue, so it wouldn't be a huge deal if I lost my new work.  However, if I had had 90% of the work done and was getting it ready for the printer, I would be extremely stressed.

      I'm using CS5 on my MacBook Pro -- I bought both of these within the past 2 weeks.

      Does anyone have any ideas as to what might be causing this problem and what users could do to prevent it from happening again?  I never had anything like this happen in CS3.

      Thanks,

      Rob

      Dear Rob and others involved in this discussion. I am new to indesign and completely green. I have had Adobe Photoshop Starter edition, and I need to do the same, except I don't know whether I'd need to export to inDesign, to be able to retrieve my files. Will it work that way? Thanks for your input. I'm using windows

      Peter Spier
      Community Expert
      Peter SpierCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
      Community Expert
      May 20, 2010

      Can you export to .idml? if you can, do it and close ID and reset the preferences, then make a new doc to test and see if you can save before trying to work withthe.idml file.

      If you can't export either, you've more than likely lost you work, but there's one more really drastic thing you can try, and that's force close InDesign (use Task Manager on Windows or Force Quit on Mac), then replace the prefs and relaunch ID. You should be asked if you want to recover, but it may just happen without asking. Immediately try to save again with a new name or export to .idml.

      Good luck.

        D
        darius93Author
        Participant
        May 20, 2010

        thank you so much, it worked, sorry for a slow reply.

        it worked!

        Peter Spier
        Community Expert
        Peter SpierCommunity Expert
        Community Expert
        May 20, 2010

        Which one?


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