Packaging - INDD doesn't finish packaging and/or locks up.

[carol_9028]

MacBook Pro M2 Max Chip 64GB memory, Sonoma, INDD v20.4.1

Packaging files stops. The status indicator keeps circling and packaging process does not seem to finish. This began yesterday and has happened when attempting to package different files. The “Saving the Document” status bar is at ~10%. When I look at the background tasks it indicates the exporting the file is at 90 or 95% and exporting the PDF is queued. When I go to “Force Quit” applications sometimes InDesign looks fine, other times it is “not responding. Cancelling doesn’t work. I get impatient after a few minutes and end up force quitting INDD.

When I look to see where I put the packaged folder. It’s there and everything is in the folder with the exception of the IDML file, sometimes the PDF isn’t there either. I've tried many times in the last 18 hours.
OK – so then I try packaging without the IDML file and INDD locks up. Package Document status bar at the ~20% – status indicator (blue circle thingy) not visible in tool bar. INDD (not responding).
One more thing, when I reopen INDD there are 3 files that open (there was only 1 file open when I was packaging). I get 2 of the file I was packaging and 1 untitled file – which has the same content as the file I was packaging.
The files aren’t huge, nor do they have an excessive amount of links.

I have done the following:

• Quit & restarted INDD
• Restarted the computer
• Trashed my INDD preferences

[Abhishek Rao]

Hi @carol_9028,

Thanks so much for sharing all these details, it really helps us understand what's happening. I can see how frustrating it must be to have InDesign freeze during packaging.

Could you please confirm if this issue is happening with all your files or just specific ones? It would also be helpful to know where you are saving the packaged folder, for example is it to an external drive, a network location, or directly to your local system drive? If possible, try saving it to your desktop or a local folder to see if that makes any difference.

Looking forward to your update.

Abhishek

[carol_9028]

Thanks for responding. 

The issue has happend with multiple files: existing files that were updated and files created today. The last file I tried packaging froze whie creating the IDML file - though INDD is still responding  according to Force Quit Appliction. I'm also no longer seeing the status circle. (see screenshot)

All files are local and saved locally. During packaging I've tried saving the packaged file to different locations, including the desktop.

[carol_9028 · Accepted solution]

UPDATE:

I was able to package a file this morning, actually, four files. I noticed that those files had 0 External Plugins. I looked at the files that weren't packaging and noticed they have 1 External Plugin. So I then created an IDML file of the document, opened the IDML file, saved it, and successfully packaged the file. To test my theory, I did it again, three more times. It worked.

So it looks like this pesky little plugin: ExtensisFontManagementD2022.InDesignPlugin is the problem. (I recently updated FontAgent). Using FontAgent I supposedly uninstalled the INDD Automatic Font Activation. I do not see this plugin in my INDD Plugins folder - before or after I uninstalled it in FontAgent. It seems this plugin is still associted with my files and templates.  Is there a way to remove the plugin from my files without creating IDML files of the document?

[Abhishek Rao]

Hi @carol_9028,

Thank you so much for sharing all these details and updates, it really helps us understand the situation better. It's great to see that you were able to pinpoint the issue to the external plugin and successfully package after creating an IDML file. That's excellent troubleshooting on your part.

I'm checking this with the product team right now and will keep you updated as soon as I hear back from them.

In the meantime, if you notice anything new or have more insights, please feel free to share.

Abhishek 

[Abhishek Rao]

Hi @carol_9028,

I checked with the product team, and they would also like to further investigate this plugin conflict to help prevent similar issues in the future.

If possible, could you please share the ExtensisFontManagementD2022.InDesignPlugin file with us? This will allow the team to analyze it more closely and understand what's causing the packaging to hang. You can attach the plugin file here or share a download link(use any public cloud service transfer service) if that's easier.

Looking forward to your update and thanks again for all your efforts troubleshooting this so far!

Abhishek 

[carol_9028]

Hello-

I'm not sure how to find/retrieve the plugin to get it to you. It doesn't show up in my Plugins folder. I beleive it is part of FontAgent font management software. (I may have inadvertently activated the plugin when I recently updated the software.) After I figured out the issue was a font-related plugin. I contacted FontAgent. The reply I received from FontAgent is:

There is a known issue where auto-activation in FontAgent can interfere with packaging fonts in InDesign. For now, the workaround is to send fonts separately from the document. This issue will be resolved in the next release of FontAgent which is nearing completion now. 

 Sorry for the inconvenience, and thanks for your patience. 

[leo.r]

ExtensisFontManagementD2022.InDesignPlugin

I beleive it is part of FontAgent font management software.

By @carol_9028

I'd be surprised if an Extensis plug-in had anything to do with FontAgent (Extensis is a different company, not related to FontAgent, that also produces font management software.)