22 Replies Latest reply: Feb 16, 2015 9:22 AM by P Spier Branched to a new discussion.

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Eugene Tyson Jul 1, 2013 9:15 AM

Firstly - with any file that is repeatedly crashing make a backup of it Immediately!

Option 1

Try to remove corruption using the Export/Save to IDML link to how to here

Option 2

Determine how many pages in your document
Export or Print your document in halves, i.e., if it's 200 pages then export or print page 1-100 then page 101-200
Keep halving the document pages until you find the problem pages, i.e., 1-100 crashes then try 1-50 and 51-100, then 1-25 and 26-50 etc. until you've found the page(s) that are crashing

When you've narrowed it down to a single page or multiple pages try to find out what is causing it to crash you can do this by:

Move half the items on the page to the Pasteboard (do not delete them) and try to export again, if it crashes then move more items to the pasteboard and so on until you find the culprit(s)
Recreate the object(s), i.e., if a particular image is causing it to crash, then don't duplicate that frame. You should use File>Place and replace the image within the layout in a new graphic frame.
1. Images
  1. If the file still crashes then you should resave the image as a complete new file name and different file extension, if it's PSD then save as TIFF or vice versa.
  2. (Note some special file formats like DCS or EPS and PDF should not be opened in Photoshop if they contain vector elements - if you don't know if they do or do not please do not open them in Photoshop)
2. Text Frames
  1. Copy that text and Place it in a text editor like Notepad or TextEdit to strip all the formatting.
  2. Create a new Text Frame and reimport the text by using File>Import or using Copy and Paste
  3. Restyle the text to your liking

Any suggestions, edits or other workflows for files that won't output via print or other method, or will not export using File>Export are thoroughly welcome.

1. Re: File Crashing on Output - printing/PDF/other

P Spier Jul 1, 2013 9:38 AM (in response to Eugene Tyson)

Thanks for posting this Eugene.

An additional comment about "fixing" problem text:

I often have very good luck replacing text that is causing file crashes using InDesign Tagged Text, which will preserve the formatting. To export tagged text you must have some sort of active text cursor, either a selection, or just a flashing cursor in the story. With an active cursor InDesign Tagged Text will become an option in the "type" dropdown when you select File > Export...

If you have selected some text, only the selection will be exported. A flashing cursor with no text selected will export the entire story, even if it is threaded across many pages. You will have two options after choosing tagged text and pressing OK in the dialog, abbreviated or verbose, and it doesn't seem to matter which you choose, other than a small difference in the size of the text file that is saved. To use the tagged text file you place it, in the same way you would place a Word file or other text file, but ID will interpret the internal tagging and bring it in formatted.

I will often replace an entire story this way, but on occasion I've also found it works well to export either the entire story, or just a selection of a section I've identified as a problem, then place the tagged text file on the pasteboard. From there I will copy the text I need and paste into position replacing a problem paragraph or two. This seems to give an added layer of cleanup without losing the formatting.

I actually developed this technique a few years ago working on a file that was causing problems for Eugene, but I'm not sure he remembers.
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2. Re: File Crashing on Output - printing/PDF/other

Eugene Tyson Jul 1, 2013 10:04 AM (in response to P Spier)

Oh I remember that file for sure. I wasn't aware or I forgot the method Peter used. Thabks for the step by step. :)
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3. Re: File Crashing on Output - printing/PDF/other

Eugene Tyson Jul 2, 2013 1:30 AM (in response to Eugene Tyson)

Some good advice here too http://forums.adobe.com/message/5468426#5468426

Dov Isaacs wrote:

There are a number of issues that can cause the failure you experienced.

One is obviously some type of dodgy content. Peter and Eugene have given you pointers to how to track such an issue down.

However, it is possible that at least with the 32-bit versions of InDesign (CS6 and earlier), you are simply running out of address space for InDesign and its core technology components to complete the PDF export. I have personally experienced this problem with long and complex documents. (This has nothing to do with how much actual memory you have installed!) The workaround I found for exporting PDF from such long and/or complex documents is that after I am done editing, I save the file and close InDesign. I then restart InDesign and open the document. I immediately invoke the export function and don't attempt any other operations before the export finishes! Do not page through the document. That uses up valuable address space and memory used by internal components.

If that doesn't work, ascertain that you have enough work space on your disk. PDF export can use significant amounts of temp space. (Under Windows, make sure the disk volume that has the TEMP directory has plenty of spare capacity!)

- Dov
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4. Re: File Crashing on Output - printing/PDF/other

Eugene Tyson Dec 3, 2013 9:15 AM (in response to Eugene Tyson)

Addition to FAQ

Recently had an InDesign Book fail to print or make a PDF.

I went through my own procedures to identify the problem - didn't find any reason for it to crash.

Solution

Create a New Book file.

Then import the files into the new book file.

Everything worked fine.

other ideas welcome
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5. Re: File Crashing on Output - printing/PDF/other

InfiniteRefrain Feb 9, 2014 11:23 AM (in response to Eugene Tyson)

One other thing to be aware of when exporting an InDesign file: all parts of the file MUST be locally saved / available.

I have everything saved on my SkyDrive, and the export kept failing until I made all parts of the file (links, etc.) available offline. Once I did that, the file exported perfectly. I am not sure why this is an issue, as InDesign reported no errors in my project, until I had to export the design for approval. It was blind luck that I tried offline availability; no searches brought up that as an issue.

If you are still having issues, I hope this may help!
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6. Re: File Crashing on Output - printing/PDF/other

frannydog Aug 3, 2014 8:35 AM (in response to Eugene Tyson)

I have tried exporting only a few pages, and different combinations and it still crashes. Is there any other workaround you might suggest so I can make this a InDesign file a PDF
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7. Re: File Crashing on Output - printing/PDF/other

P Spier Aug 3, 2014 9:06 AM (in response to frannydog)

You're going to need to isolate and repair/replace whatever is on a page that fails to export. Read about Divide and Conquer strategies above...
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8. Re: File Crashing on Output - printing/PDF/other

frannydog Aug 3, 2014 9:19 AM (in response to P Spier)

I am rebuilding the doc. Fortunately it's on 22 pages. I add a page, export to a pdf and so far it works. Only on page 7 right now. I figured that is the only way to isolate where the conflict is coming from since the original doc crashes every time I try to export as a pdf, whether 1 page or more.
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9. Re: File Crashing on Output - printing/PDF/other

knof155 Aug 21, 2014 4:47 PM (in response to Eugene Tyson)

Hi Eugene,

I had the same problem, wound up exporting my CS6 doc to PostScript file first, then dropping PostScript file on Adobe Acrobat Pro. It made the PDF from there, was only workaround I could come up with. Believe its glitch in CS6. Not sure if those using CS6 off cloud are having the same problem. Hope this helps.

Karen
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10. Re: File Crashing on Output - printing/PDF/other

Eugene Tyson Aug 25, 2014 1:29 AM (in response to Eugene Tyson)

That is such an archaic workflow - and I do not recommend it.

Your file could have been fixed and exported to PDF - there would have been a way.

Anyway - you got a very basic PDF with no colour management in it all now - good luck with the colour reproduction... sorry for being harsh.
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11. Re: File Crashing on Output - printing/PDF/other

frannydog Aug 25, 2014 6:26 AM (in response to Eugene Tyson)

I rebuilt the InDesign doc page by page then exported to a pdf. All worked until I got to the corrupt image, then it crashed. I had placed an ai file directly into the InDesign doc instead of changing it to a jpg. Once I changed it, which also made the image file smaller, I was able to make a pdf no problem. Just took a while to go through each page at a time. Wish there was a way to detect a corrupt on non working image.

Thanks everyone for you help.
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12. Re: File Crashing on Output - printing/PDF/other

Eugene Tyson Aug 25, 2014 6:48 AM (in response to Eugene Tyson)

Changing it to a jpeg is not a great solution, there was probably something wrong within your .ai file that we could troubleshoot if you still have it.

But saving it to a jpeg removes the vector goodness that gives a much better output.

Alternate to this saving to PDF would have been much better.
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13. Re: File Crashing on Output - printing/PDF/other

knof155 Aug 25, 2014 7:13 AM (in response to Eugene Tyson)

I had a basic black and white document, no color. With a "to printer" date that could not change. The message I received from Adobe was "Adobe has found a solution to this problem, click here". Perhaps if the click here had taken me to that solution my discussion would not have been necessary.
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14. Re: File Crashing on Output - printing/PDF/other

Eugene Tyson Aug 25, 2014 7:59 AM (in response to Eugene Tyson)

I really don't know what you're referring to.
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15. Re: File Crashing on Output - printing/PDF/other

GotiS Sep 1, 2014 12:41 AM (in response to Eugene Tyson)

Rather then performing so much R & D on the PDF file. I think going with an automated tool would be much better for you. I had shared a solution to repair corrupt PDF files few days back on this forum. You may fix all your PDF issues in a click. You can follow the the article to Repair PDF files, mentioned on Microsoft. This could be a turning point for this thread. I hope you get your solution.
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16. Re: File Crashing on Output - printing/PDF/other

P Spier Sep 1, 2014 2:31 AM (in response to GotiS)

You've missed the entire point of this thread. One cannot "fix a corrupt PDF" if there is no PDF produced. The point of this thread is to help users find the problem in InDesign that prevents it from making the PDF in the first place.
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17. Re: File Crashing on Output - printing/PDF/other

Eugene Tyson Sep 1, 2014 2:43 AM (in response to Eugene Tyson)

Even still - it could come in handy for someone reading the thread anyway.
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18. Re: File Crashing on Output - printing/PDF/other

P Spier Sep 1, 2014 2:53 AM (in response to Eugene Tyson)

Sure, but it's off-topic and won't help with getting ID to make a PDF.
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19. Re: File Crashing on Output - printing/PDF/other

Eugene Tyson Sep 1, 2014 2:55 AM (in response to Eugene Tyson)

I totally agree - can you separate the threads and split to fix?
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20. Re: File Crashing on Output - printing/PDF/other

P Spier Sep 1, 2014 3:06 AM (in response to Eugene Tyson)

I suppose I could, but I don't think the post makes much sense without the context of this thread.
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21. Re: File Crashing on Output - printing/PDF/other

katt62734348 Feb 16, 2015 8:54 AM (in response to Eugene Tyson)

Hello!
I need help. My problem is that when I export file into pdf I can't do anything with the file because it the export window stay up the page and could't be changed. The window cling at the page and export doesn't work.
Here is print screen of clinging window.
How can I solve this problem? Thank you!
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22. Re: File Crashing on Output - printing/PDF/other

P Spier Feb 16, 2015 9:22 AM (in response to katt62734348)

Try turning on the Application Frame.
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