Problems making a PDF from Indesign CS5

[Teddy_Boi_Toronto]

Hi friends. I have recently switched to CS5 and I find that I usually need to close the program and then reopen it before I can make a PDF. It says it is working in the background but all it does is spin without creating the PDF. Anyone else having this problem? 

TED

[John Hawkinson]

In April I wrote:

I certainly didn't mean to imply that InDesign Secrets was some kind of Neutral Zone and that we would have to be concerned about the Phasers and Photon Torpedos. Definitely nothing like that.

Especially because Cmd-Opt-Shift-K doesn't do anything useful in InDesign. At least, not like it does in a certain other product. (I'm sure there are people who really use Clipping Path: Options... and would be heartbroken if it caused an interstellar incident).

Hmm. Well, tonight I happened to discover independently that InDesign does already cause interstellar incidents:

I see that InDesign Secrets posted about this some years ago. All I can say is that nobody told me how to do it, I managed to figure it out myself. That said, you would like to think there'd be some CS5.5 ones floating around somewhere...

[LucienSchilling]

John Hawkinson wrote:

What Peter is saying, and it is important to say, is that users coming to this forum should not make the mistake of presuming that Adobe personnel are reading the threads and seeing what they say.

The community is great and helps for 99% of the problems. The other are those problems Adobe is interested in.

[Peter Spier]

But you cannot presume that a post here will be seen by the right people (a real bug report will get directed to the correct people on the team), nor that you will get any feedback if it does.

[LucienSchilling]

P Spier wrote:

But you cannot presume that a post here will be seen by the right people (a real bug report will get directed to the correct people on the team), nor that you will get any feedback if it does.

Correct. But Adobe does not respond always to real world problems that have been notified to Adobe using the "official" way! At least here you get help, if possible or you get directed to the corresponding pages, if you need to report an other way.

[Dov Isaacs]

I have been reading this thread and am very confused about the assertion that somehow a problem encountered in the initial release of InDesign 7 will require any user "to pay more to get a fix!" There is no known fix at this time, for free for for any charge. And Adobe does not charge anything extra for the dot releases with the fixes for problems reported by users or discovered internally.

If someone on this thread really believes that they were given that type of misinformation by someone at Adobe, please contact me off-forum (click on my name for my e-mail address) with particulars (when and who told exactly what with regards to obtaining a "fix") and I will gladly follow-up on this ASAP.

BTW, contrary to assertions made here, yes, testing was done with PDF export both internally within Adobe and with a reasonably large group of pre-release external testers. The problem did not come up even with very complex InDesign documents hundreds of pages long. That doesn't mean that there isn't some problem that really needs to get resolved ASAP, but rather, despite attempts to provide wide test coverage, there are circumstances (including user-specific configurations, drivers, OS versions, etc.) that simply cannot be unmasked until literally thousands of users get their hands on the software. Adobe makes the best effort to respond to these issues as quickly as possible of course trying to make sure that any "fix" doesn't break other features.

          - Dov

PS:     Update - at least one beta tester did in fact see this problem but the InDesign team wasn't able to reproduce the problem at that time. We will make sure that they are very aware that the problem, if not easily reproducible in our labs, is very real and needs fixing ASAP.

[Guest]

On top of the problem I've been having. On of the files I have pdf'd and crashed when I was able to finally get a pdf I must of closed and not saved. I can not open this file its totally corrupt. no matter what I try moving changing name, I cant open it, it just crashes CS5. I really haven't had a corrupt indesign file in probably 4 years. Ever since CS2. This sucks.

[Rouviere Media]

I find that I am able to create a PDF file, but when I try and open it in Acrobat I get an error saying the file is damaged. Would seriously appreciate a fix for export to PDF.

[GloriaMo]

Well, no need to get emotional, but any hope that bugs will be promptly fixed is not founded.

Some (  but not by any means  all ) reasons:

- Fixing the bug will mean that manufacturer indirectly admits that the software is poorly designed at the the beginning -don't expect such an admition.

- Adobe has embedded itself firmly in the market  and has no real insentive to deploy more brain power - people buy the products anyway...

- Buggy InDesign will make you buy another Adobe product, say, Acrobat Pro. Result - more money for Adobe corporation.

- If any bug-fix is done  it will come as an upgrade you have to buy  - again more revenue for Adobe corporation.

Hope you get the picture 🙂

So keep calm and try to get by with the buggy InDes CS5 - there is no other option.

[BobLevine]

InDesign has always received the highest number of dot releases of any product in the Creative Suite. It's flat out impossible to release bug free software. Nobody can do it. Not Adobe, not Microsoft, not even Apple.

Bob

[Joel Cherney]

So keep calm and try to get by with the buggy InDes CS5 - there is no other option.

Gah. How about "Use CS4 until CS5 7.0.1 comes out"? Seems like an obvious course of action to me.

Early adopters, what do they get? Something vulgar, I seem to recall.

- If any bug-fix is done  it will come as an upgrade you have to buy  - again more revenue for Adobe corporation.

Hey, wait, I'm the guy who is supposed to say nasty things about Adobe's profit motives. Um, where did you get the idea you'd have to pay for a dot release? The reappearance of the idea of paying for bugfixes makes me think that this poster is actually a troll.

[LuxMaji]

We have the same crashing problem, or shall I say had the problem.

My group and I have been systematically working though our documents determining what is causing this problem. About 6 of us decided to spend part of yesterday and all of this morning looking for a common denominator. At first we thought it was with the tables that were linked in the documents. About an hour ago we had a breakthrough and are certain that what we found is a real bug.
We know this because it is not associated to any of the other elements we brought into the document. Instead it is an element of the software that is used my some (explains why not everyone is experiencing the problem) and is reproducible.

Here is my approach. We are not going to share this bug with Adobe until they pay us $40. Why $40? That is the amount they were requiring us to pay when we called their god awful tech support. We spent thousands on an upgrade and then were asked to pay them for service??? This was after 1.5 hours of being bounced around the planets telephone cables. Well Adobe… It goes both ways. We worked our tails off to solve an issue that was yours to begin with. If you had treated us differently we might have been inclined to participate in “community testing”. After what we have been through, it is now a matter of principle.

Sorry I can’t help (I have the solution), but Adobe is to blame for this. When we get the $40, we will share the bug. Adobe will be getting a call in a few minutes where I will explain our terms. Again... it goes both ways.

Customers unite...

Lance

[BobLevine]

This is a user to user forum, where users SHARE information with each other for everyone's benefit.

So, either share or take your ball and your bat and go play somewhere else.

Bob

[bamit]

And I thought I was being immature when I asked if they had tested making a PDF before shipping...  Are you also a Nigerian prince and you need to deposit some money in someone's bank account?

[LuxMaji]

Immature? Have you called their tech support? Have you spent countless hours of your time attempting to solve a problem when you could have been making money or spending time with your family? Have you missed a deadline because you could not deliver a document in a simple PDF?

Look, don't take this personally, nor resort to personal attacks. We are making a statement. That is all.

L

[Daniel Cilia]

Most of us here try to share our problems and eventual solution or work-arounds if we find them with one another so as to help one another. Adobe gives us the space to to this which also means that Adobe watches over these forums to try to understand what we want, what does not work or how the programs we use get be made better.

Its no point to act like children and 'tease' the rest of us that you have found the solution and want a measly $40 dollars from Adobe. From my earlier contributions on this forum I have found a simple work around (make the Pdf from the Adobe PDf Presets) which has worked for me for the moment.

If I had not discovered this simple workaround I would be pleased to send you $40 dollars myself and then share it with all of us so that we can all work better and faster with InDesign which we all love to work with. I dread the idea of going to Quark XPress and its still available so the open free market dictates if you do not like a program switch over.

Hey give me a slightly bugged InDesign but please I will not go back to Quark! Adobe engineers are human so they are bound to err as well, no?

[LuxMaji]

I agree with you Daniel. This is not a vendetta against the users of the group. This is a vendetta against the policies and policy makers at Adobe. This is my platform to get noticed. We respect the software engineers at Adobe and are not out to cause them trouble. It is also not about the $40. I don't need the money, nor care about. This simply boils down to the fact that Adobe would not give us the time of day without paying THEM $40 to attempt to solve our problem with poorly trained overseas phone operators. Please tell me one other item that you have purchased where you are expected to pay the manufacturer for technical/mechanical assistance hours after your purchase. If you buy a new car and drive it off the lot, would you not be outraged if you were asked to pay the dealership $40 to examine a problem you experienced on the drive home? Of course. How is this different? We all are human and make mistakes. I don't expect the software to be perfect nor bug free. I do expect to be treated like the customer I am. What leverage do I have to drive that point home to Adobe? My money?

Believe it or not, we are doing this for the users that have experienced the same level of support we have.L

[BobLevine]

You will find no one here that will argue about the poor support, but that doesn't give you the right to barge in here with this the childish nonsense. How many times have you visited a support forum and found the answser to your problem.

Think about how you'd feel, trying to get something done but someone else saying, "yeah, I have the answer, but I'm not sharing" Because that's what you're doing. And you're doing to a group of people that have given many hours of their own time to helping others.

I say it again...put up or shut up.

Bob

[LuxMaji]

Ohhh Bob. 11,356.

[BobLevine]

Okay, big shot.

I'll call your bluff.

Post your solution. If those who are suffering with the problem confirm that it works, I'll send you your $40 via Paypal. You can visit my website, www.theindesignguy.com and give you my contact information.

And yeah, you'll just have to take my word for it.

Bob

[BobLevine]

Oh, and this can't be a workaround that's already been posted or something lame like exporting a few pages at a time.

No..we need a real solution. Come on now...step up to the plate and help your fellow InDesign users. You know, the ones you're looking out for.

Bob

[LuxMaji]

I will share once I have made my case with Adobe.

@Bob I love how you have spinned this whole thing on me. There is this beverage called Vodka. Drink a bunch of it. You'll feel better.

L

[BobLevine]

Just as I thought.

[LuxMaji]

Good lord. No wonder you have so many damn posts. You won't shut up.

I have already PMed my findings to a few people now. I would have gladly done the same for you, yet I got to experience your winning personality.

Anyhoo. I am done with you. Not waisting any more keystokes.

If the rest of you would like me to share what we have discovered, please PM me and I will gladly share. Although you must have under 100 posts.  That way I know you have a life. Good times.

L

[Peter Spier]

LuxMaji wrote:

If the rest of you would like me to share what we have discovered, please PM me and I will gladly share. Although you must have under 100 posts.  That way I know you have a life. Good times.

L

That's a pretty sad comment. I have more posts than Bob and a pretty good rep around here for helping people. I have a fair amount of free time (unfortunately) and I consider this to be community service and a lot more productive than some of the other stuff I could be doing. I also file bug reports and offer assistance to the develpoment team when I have something to contribute that will improve the product. No doubt you are enjoying some of the benefit of my labors.

In any case, I doubt you've found "the" answer, though you may have found one set of circumstances that will trigger or correct an export failure. As someone who has had the problem myself, and spent some time trying to track it down without conclusive success, I can tell you that the same file that failed for me every time using a preset (and remember, at least one participant here has said using a preset is the thing that works for them) would export perfectly when I set the same parameters manually. Another file failed to export when I tried to do versions with different layer visibilities in rapid succession, but again worked perfectly if I waited between versions for each previous export to complete.

Do I think you should have to pay $40 to talk to someone who can help you? No. But I have to agree that your attitude is childish. Adobe, like just about every other major software vendor has moved to cut costs by charging for service. It's frigtfully expensive to run a help desk to provide the same answers that are contained in the help files that people are so reluctant to read these days, and that's what the large majority of calls to tech support are actaully about. Perhaps if you'd gone a bit further with the process you'd have gotten past level-one support where they have no discretion and spoken to someone who not only was in a position to talk about a bug, but to refund your money as well.

Adobe is not going to send you $40, and you know that. On the other hand, if you provide some assistance, both here and on the bug report form, you'll be helping thousands of other users, and yourself, when the bug is ultimately squashed.

[LuxMaji]

My apologies. I in no way meant to offend your personal service to the community. You seem to be a genuinely nice man. I may indeed be acting childish, yet I feel I have a point to prove to Adobe. I feel zero compassion for their cost cutting needs. We gladly pay a premium for their software and deserve premium service in exchange.  They cost me money and time away from my wife and four kids. Plain and simple.

L