Stop background activation of fonts

[martinfriedlin]

Is it possible in InDesign to stop the activation of fonts in the background? Even if I close the document, that asks for the missing fonts, InDesign still tries to activate them. As a result I have a hot laptop and in no time I run out of battery power. Any suggestions?

[Eugene Tyson · Accepted solution]

Go to the InDesign Preferences

Check the option at the bottom under File Handling

[martinfriedlin]

Great Advice. Thank you very much! 🙂

[1christianvoice]

What do you change after opening File Handling? I'm not able to save a PDF because my program is stuck on trying to download fonts.

[Peter Spier]

Uncheck the Auto-Activate Adobe Fonts box at the bottom of the dialog....

[susang23122000]

That didn't work for me...the background task is still running with no way to manually stop it that I can find. Please help. 

[HARSHIKA_VERMA]

Hi @martinfriedlin, 

Thanks for reaching out and trying the steps suggested in this post. Have you tried signing out of InDesign, restart the machine and signing back in? Let us know if that helps.

Thanks,

Harshika

[martinfriedlin]

Hi Harshika

The problem is that the thread cannot be quit separately. The only option is to close InDesign and restart it, which is a somewhat cumbersome workaround but the only one that works. From the user's point of view, it would be great to have a simple "Cancel task" button here. I look forward to hearing from you again.

Best
Martin

[Tatiana382334710tcl]

Hi Martin, did you solve this issue? I'm losing my mind because my auto-activate Adobe Fonts isn't checked. I've quit InDesign and shut down my computer multiple times and I'm still not able to create PDFs out of old designs that I previously was able to make PDFs from (I updated the file annually). The error is due to a spooling background task of activating fonts. The fonts are Source Sans 3 bold, semi-bold italic, and regular. As far as I can tell those fonts don't even exist in my document because I tried a find and replace. This is work for a client and I don't know what to do at this point.

[martinfriedlin]

Hi Tatiana

The problem can only be solved by Adobe, because it is a problem with the software and not with incorrect handling by the user.

Regarding your problem: I would open the document and replace all missing fonts with existing ones/fonts already installed. Then close the program and open it again. Open the customized document as well. Actually, writing the PDF file should now work (InDesign should no longer try to load fonts in the background). Hope this works …

[Tatiana382334710tcl]

Hi Martin, 

Thanks for getting back to me. You're right it was an Adobe software problem, which resolved itself when I uploaded the files online.

[rob day]

Hi @Tatiana382334710tcl , I’m not sure this helps, but when font activation problems come up it is often because of a conflict between fonts you own a license for,  and have installed in one of your OS Font folders, and fonts with the same name that can be activated from Adobe Type.

Source Sans 3 is an Adobe Original so could it be you have had it and installed it in one of your font folders (?) when it is also available at AdobeType. Similar conflict problems come up with Google fonts, which can be activated from Adobe Type or downloaded and installed from Google—the versions and metrics are actually different even though they have the same name.

I take care to uninstall any fonts I own and have installed in my OS, that conflict with same named fonts at Adobe Type—I own a number of Emigre fonts and the AdobeType subscription includes the entire Emigre library, so I make sure I have no licenced Emigre OTF or TT fonts installed in my OS and activate them from Adobe Type.

Also, if it isn’t clear, when an AdobeType font gets Added or activated, the font seems like it is activated from the cloud, but it is actually downloaded and installed in a hidden folder in your system. The download needed for the activation can take some time depending on your internet connection and network activity.