Paragraph and Character Styles very slow when making changes to an existing style, help!!

[victoriawolf]

It started back in March and has persisted ever since.

I have the latest, updated version of InDesign and Windows 11. I did not make any changes prior to the issue, and I have a newer desktop computer. I have been working with InDesign since it was the Pagemaker program, so knowledge is not an issue here. And, I have never had this problem in my 33 years of using Adobe programs.

That being said, here is the issue:

Randomly, when I edit an existing paragraph or character style, it can take 30 seconds to over a minute to be able to make that change. It happens when I choose a different setting, and also when I hit okay. 

• If I close ID and restart, it helps a bit, but not completely, and the issue continues to worsen as I make style changes.
• I have deactivated all fonts, and that did not help.
• I have installed and reinstalled ID, and that did not help.
• I have rebooted  SO MANY times
• I have tried to delete my font cache, but I get a message that it is in use even after I reboot.

I am a book designer and work on book interiors every day, and this is KILLING my workflow.

Any help with this issue would be much appreciated.

Thanks!

[Eugene Tyson]

Change it to a non-adobe font then - deactivate everything and install a font - any font directly on the computer not using Adobe Fonts. 

[victoriawolf]

I understand what you're trying to do here, but I'm not sure what it will accomplish. If the Adobe fonts functionality is the issue, doing what you suggest may may (or may not) reveal that to me, but not using Adobe fonts isn't an option for me so, it would be a moot point. 

I have deactivated all Adobe fonts three times already, and each time, I open one file and activate the font used in that file, and I still have the same issue.

I do believe the issue is font-related in some way.

With my workload, all this troubleshooting I have been doing over the last few months has been difficult, and yet, no solution. Given this, please forgive me if I sound unappreciative of the advice. I am not, just extremely busy, and frustrated. There's nothing worse that one's technology not working correctly.

[Willi Adelberger]

Did you try an IDML clean up?

How deep goes the character style definition? All properties or only some? Make so few definitions as possible!

[victoriawolf]

No, I did not try an IDML clean up.

The character and paragraph styles are very detailed, but I have been doing this for years and this issue just cropped up in March. 

I built a new computer in November, so all the Adobe programs were installed then, which is not too long ago. My previous system, had them installed for about 7 years with no issue.

[Willi Adelberger]

Charakter styles should only be defined at minimum, so you can use the same style in various paragraph styles. It will reduce the number of character styles drastically and this will speed up the program massive. 

[victoriawolf]

Thank you for your comment, but I don't think the issue lies in the use of character styles. I have been doing things the same way for years, and then, out of nowhere, in March, this started happening. And it still happens when I have a blank document with one paragraph style and not character styles.

[Eugene Tyson]

Hello,

I don't think I've seen you're system specs mentioned or your OS version? Can you please confirm?
----------

I do not think this has been mentioned yet, so here I go!

Have you tried starting your computer in Safe Mode to see if the issue persists?

Safe Mode is like a testing ground. If InDesign runs fine there, it points to a third-party app causing the trouble things like Typeface, Magnet, WebRoot, VPNs, firewalls, you name it.

If it is still sluggish even in Safe Mode, then you know it is not an outside interference and more likely something deeper within InDesign or the system.

If it runs better in Safe Mode, then when you restart you can then close down your background apps one by one to find out which one is the mischief-maker.

Might save you a lot of heartache before going down the rabbit hole of reinstalls and preference nuking!

---

Quick "Cheat Sheet" of checks:
Safe Mode Test

Reset Preferences

Validate Fonts 

Turn off Preflight
Disable GPU Performance (Mac only - see InDesign preferences)

Update InDesign and System Updates

Setup a New User on the computer and see if the issue persists

Full Reinstall if desperate (Creative Cloud Cleaner tool mentioned earlier)

If you need any help on any of the above let us know.

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

https://community.adobe.com/t5/indesign-discussions/indesign-freeze-when-changing-things-in-paragrap...

[StargelNaz]

I am experiencing this exact issue. Long time user of inDesign. Tried the tings.
TERRIBLE workaround to keep me on-time with projects: I make adjustments directly to text and then redefine the style from that. For some reason, that doesn't trigger the bug. BUT! It's not good practice, and we need a fix! 🙂

[Eugene Tyson]

You'd have to supply documents to test and try as it's not happening for everyone. There's a lot in this thread about things to try - but I'd urge you to go through them and try them to see if it helps.

[victoriawolf]

I love your workaround! I am so happy to hear this is happening to others. There is another string with more people having the same issues.

https://community.adobe.com/t5/indesign-discussions/indesign-freeze-when-changing-things-in-paragrap...

I find it hard to believe that all of us have the same issue with our ID installation or our machines. I have been doing this way too long (33 years) to believe that. And I don't have time for all the "fixes" that may or may not work. I have a workload to attend to!  I feel this is an Adobe issue that needs to be fixed.

[Eugene Tyson]

Still haven't provided any files to test with. It's very difficult to know what is happening without the test files.

[victoriawolf]

Hello,

I am providing you with a file and a video showing the issue. It took three minutes to create a new style due to the lag issue.

The attached INDD file is the beginning of a book interior. I started with a file I created that has all the basic styles I need for a book, and then I did a Save As. I have followed the same process for nearly ten years.

• I had the lag issue with the paragraph styles and character styles issue before I imported the Word manuscript document and after.
• I have started a new file and had the same issues.
• I have this issue with every file.
• The issue gets worse the longer the file and ID are open. I find that I can reduce the lag time by closing and restarting ID, but it really does not last that long before it gets bad again.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Victoria

[personal information removed by moderator]

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

@victoriawolf 

I think you should take down your attachments? It's a whole 335 pages book??

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

@victoriawolf 

First - I don't have your fonts - and I haven't activated the missing ones.

Two - I've selected the same text you've selected, then clicked "+" on the Paragraph Styles panel - to create a new ParaStyle - then turned ON in it:

- Rule Above,

- Paragraph Border,

- Paragraph Shading,

then clicked OK to confirm changes - and all that with preview ticked ON - no slowdown at all at any pint?

[victoriawolf]

As you can see in the video, there is a considerable slowdown. It is happening for others as well. 

I believe it's a Windows 11 or Adobe issue, but I'm unable to confirm that. I will have to muddle through for now.

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

As you can see in the video, there is a considerable slowdown. It is happening for others as well. 

I believe it's a Windows 11 or Adobe issue, but I'm unable to confirm that. I will have to muddle through for now.

By @victoriawolf

I'm on a laptop, Win 10, 16GB RAM, swap off, ID 20.0

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

@victoriawolf 

Then, I've edited your "Indented Paragraph" ParaStyle - your main Style?

With Preview ON.

Yes, I have a slight delay - after each clicked option - but that's just 2-3 seconds.

[victoriawolf]

As you can see, in the video, it is much longer for me.

I am not sure why I have to keep defending myself and my issue. This is not a "did you turn it on?" situation. I have been working with this program for 33 years.

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

@victoriawolf 

Of course you don't have to defend yourself - and I'm not saying that you're doing anything wrong.

But in order to help you to resolve the problem - we need to check things - even if they sound extremely basic to you.

It might be something trivial - or a serious bug in Windws / InDesign.

Me being able to work with your document - means that there is something wrong with your configuration.

Can you start by deactivating used fonts first?

Then maybe downgrade your InDesign to 20.0?

[victoriawolf]

Understood, but I have listed the steps I took to try to resolve the issue, first in my original post and then in subsequent replies.

What I would like you to understand is that NOTHING on my system changed. One day, ID was working normally, and then one day the lag appeared. I have not installed any new programs on my system.

• I have deactivated all Adobe fonts and then added them back in as I opened files.
• I have installed and reinstalled the latest version of ID.

I have not reverted to an older version of ID, as that would be a significant undertaking that I don't have time for, and to be honest, I don't feel I need to do it since I did nothing to cause this issue. Yes, I understand that it could possibly solve my problem, but then I would be left with various versions of the same file, saved for multiple versions of ID, and an issue that may not be resolved.

I am sorry, and I understand you want to help, but posting here is taking up time I don't have, and not providing the simple fix I was hoping for. At least now, I know, I am not the only one this is happening to.

I have an extremely full workload and many deadlines to meet, and waiting for the lag seems like the best choice right now.

I hope that one day, ID will work as it used to.

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

@victoriawolf 

Also, your file has been created in ID 16.0.1.109, on 07th January 2021 - you should definitely do SAVE AS with a new name - you were working on it in ID 17, 18 and now 20 - so there might be a lot of "old stuff" in this file as well.

[victoriawolf]

Yes, I always do a Save As with a new name. 

And I get the same lag issue when starting a new file with nothing in it but a line of text.

[Eugene Tyson · Accepted solution]

I downloaded your book file and followed your video.

There no lag on my end - I will test on my Windows 10 machine 8gb later today if I get a chance. 

This is on InDesign 20.3 (just updated today)

And using Mac OS 14.4.1 - with 36gb RAM 

No issues.

The fonts are not loaded. As I didn't activate them. 

So when I load the fonts Garamond Pro Regular is causing major issues 

When I look at the font 

So when I was fixing this to a Garamond Premier Pro from the Adobe Fonts - I exported to IDML and when I opened it was finding 'Garamond Premier Pro Nothing' (which doesn't exist as a font afaik).

I've narrowed it down to a few spaces in text and changed them to Wingdings so you can easily find them.

Can you see if this file behaves better -seems like you have a corrupt font in Garamond Premier Pro Regular - from what I got that seems to be the issue.

But I can't reproduce your lag at all. 

Here's the file - if you want it privately let me know and I'll remove the link and send you a link you can download from. 

<<ATTACHMENT REMOVED BY ME>>> sent link via DM.

[victoriawolf]

Thanks for checking the file.

The file I uploaded was in process, and those font issues you found were a style imported from the Word document that I had not removed yet. Once removed, the issue found would not be there.

I will say that I deactivated all my Adobe fonts a week or so ago to try to troubleshoot the lag issue, and when I reactivated them as needed, Adobe Garamond Premier Pro was very problematic. Individual fonts would stay activated after deactivation, some would activate but not show up in ID. It was so very frustrating.

I believe I am going to need to uninstall the entire Adobe Cloud to see if I can fix this issue. However, there are others having this issue as well and it leads me to believe that doing so, may not solve the issue.