InDesign CC 2021 (16.0) crashes while exporting PDFs

[stephaniea67358027]

I produce a professional magazine which I need to send to the printer. I'm using the new version of Indesign (2021 x64), on Windows 10 Pro, and it will not export to PDF. InDesign just closes about 20 seconds after I select to export to PDF. Is there a fix available?

[Derek Cross]

Which OS version?

Have you tried resetting your InDesign preferences?

[stephaniea67358027]

I'm on Windows 10 Pro (64-bit OS). I just reset my InDesign preferences and rebooted my computer. Unfortunately, InDesign crashed again while exporting to PDF.

[Ashutosh_Mishra]

Hi Stephanie,

Sorry to hear about this. Does it crash while exporting a specific document? If yes, it could be a file specific issue. You may try dividing the pages and exporting them, you may find the corrupted page/link/text frame/graphic which might be causing the issue.
Another thing would be to save the file as IDML and then try working on the file. Let us know how it goes.

Regards,

Ashutosh

[Laubender]

Hi stephaniea67358027,

do you still have the previous version of InDesign installed?

I would export to IDML and open the IDML file with the previous version as document and try to work on from there.

After the conversion you have to check all pages. Exchage with IDML is not perfect. Could also be that features behave differently in previous versions.

FWIW: Production wise I always test a new version of InDesign before doing actual production.

Sometimes this process takes months or even years, because InDesign is only one component in the chain of workflow steps.

Regards,
Uwe Laubender

( ACP )

[Randy Hagan]

Have you tried outputting a .ps file and creating a PDF with Acrobat Distiller using your preferred PDF preset? Printing to PDF using the Adobe PDF driver to your preferred PDF preset? 

These are not the preferred way to create a PDF, but you're on deadline. I'd try the .ps output to Distiller workflow first. Have your printer QC the PDF in preflight to ensure there are no rude surprises.

Good luck,

Randy

[Laubender]

Thanks Randy for suggesting printing to PostScript, distilling to PDF.

Yes, this could be something one should test in this situation.

To stephaniea67358027:

In order to enable InDesign for this kind of workflow one needs to "install" a special PPD file in a subfolder of the application folder of InDesign:

Adobe InDesign 2021 > Presets > PPDs

Create the folder if it is not there; name it exactly like that:

PPDs

Put the following PPD file to the folder:

ADPDF9.PPD

To get the file and a description of the process follow the steps from this article:

https://helpx.adobe.com/indesign/kb/add-acrobat-ppd.html

If you are unsure how to access and configure Acrobat Distiller for converting a PostScript file to PDF please come back and simply ask.

Regards,
Uwe Laubender

( ACP )

[stephaniea67358027]

I appreciate all of your suggestions.

I didn't try to install a PPD file, as the Indesign 2021 did not install itself into a folder at all. Weird. It only installed a executable program file. I've used Distiller years ago, but now I can't figure out how to export a PS file using InDesign 2021. I didn't try the IDML export; because I decided to reinstall InDesign 2020 (15.1.3). I'm completing the job with version 15.1.3.

I'm thinking my problems with InDesign 2021 involve a much larger issue. It crashes when I try to "Share for Review" feature too. (However, "Share for Review" works in the 2020 version.) And I'm having trouble with Photoshop 2021. Photoshop 2021 won't open a file and the program won't close/exit. I have to end the program by ending the task in task manager. I had to revert to Photoshop 2020 to work with a JPG file.

I realize I'm venting now, but I'm really frustrated with the Adobe CC 2021 products so far. I work for a small non-profit org and have limited resources. I don't have the time to figure out how to finesse the software.

[Randy Hagan]

On my system, printing to PostScript® File is listed right beneath my preferred Dell Postscript printer PPD in the Printer: options box within InDesign's Print dialog. Might be a legacy thing, PostScript® nomenclature is pretty old, but hopefully that didn't get blown away in your upgrade.

Hope this helps,

Randy

[stephaniea67358027]

Thanks for the tip on PPD. I'll try it out next time.

[Randy Hagan]

I'm hopeful that means you've got past your problem.

I hope all is good for you, and I'm a big believer that any landing you can walk away from is a good one.

Hope you have a great weekend,

Randy

[stephaniea67358027]

I like your philoshopy. I'm walking past the new version of the app for now.

[Laubender]

Stephanie said:
"I appreciate all of your suggestions.

I didn't try to install a PPD file, as the Indesign 2021 did not install itself into a folder at all. Weird."

Then something went totally wrong while installing InDesign 2021 on your machine.

If you have access to your applications folder on your machine you should see something like I show in the screenshot below ( from my German Windows 10 machine ) :

As you can see a Presets folder is there and if you scroll down you see the InDesign.exe file:

Regards,
Uwe Laubender

( ACP )