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jenhosk
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Branched (was Re: Troubleshooting 101: Export to .idml or .inx to clear file corruption)

Jun 25, 2012 2:44 PM

I am working on a fairly large file, a 220 page, image heavy, catalogue. I have done most of the troubleshooting tips, as the online research has suggested. This is at my work computer and was just upgraded to Windows 7 and use CS5.5. Everytime I export the catalogue to PDFs (in sections), Indesign crashes either during the export or right after the export. I am usually a Mac user, so if you have any tips for troubleshooting on this work PC, please use newbie language.

 

I tried to export to IDML but it freezes and does not fully complete the export. When I force quit Indesign, reopen Indesign and open the IDML file, it eventually opens it, but the paragraph styles are not set. I am thinking that the export to IDML doesn't complete, which is why the styles don't export?

 

I continiously crash, so don't know if I automatically just ignore the crash reports, but I am almost positive that I don't get that crash report option. Maybe because I am on a network? If I do receive the option to attain a crash report, where do I sent it to?

 

Thanks,

Jen

1383 Views   16 Replies   Latest reply: jenhosk, Jun 29, 2012 9:42 AM
Branched from an earlier discussion.
 
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  • Peter Spier
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    1. Peter Spier,
    Jun 25, 2012 2:46 PM   in reply to jenhosk
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    Unfortunately you aren't getting crash reports becasue you are using Windows, not because of the network.

     

    I've branched this into a new thread becasue I think we are about to get far afield from the .inx/.idml export. You mentioned you get a crash when exporting in sections. Is that with EVERY section?

     

    Do you have any third-party plugins?

     

    Have you tried moving the pages into a new document?

     
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  • jenhosk
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    2. jenhosk,
    Jun 25, 2012 2:54 PM   in reply to Peter Spier
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    Thanks for branching this thread. I didn't know where to start with my question, so had replied to what I thought was the closest topic.

     

    No, I do not have any third party plugins.

     

    I have not tried moving the pages into a new document, as this would take a very long time, however, if this is the only work around with the issues I am having, the time spent will be worth it. I have done the "save as" option and saved over the document. I followed all the tips from the article "Drop 20 lbs with InDesign" and the only one that didn't work was the IDML export, re-opening and resaving.

     

    I will try to export the sections again and see if the same sections crash. It crashes so often that I have a hard time keeping track of exactly when and where it crashes. I will be back and let you know about when it crashes and if it is the same section as this morning.

     
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  • Peter Spier
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    3. Peter Spier,
    Jun 25, 2012 3:07 PM   in reply to jenhosk
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    Moving pages is actually pretty easy. Create a new file the same page size. Rename Master A to some other name that was not used in the original file that is giving you trouble. Go to the Paragraph Styles panel and open the panel flyout menu, then choose import all text styles. In the dialog pick the file that you are moving the pages from and choose incoming definitions in case of conflict. (these two precautions just ensure that nothing gets's lot because of duplicated names, but changed definitions, especially if you added something to Master A)

     

    In the old file open the Pages panel and select all the pages (click the first one, the hold Shift and click the last), the open the panel flyout menu and choose Move Pages. for the destination pick your new file, and insert the BEFORE page 1 so they don't swap sides on the spreads. Delete the empty last page in the new file, and save as with a new name. Hopefully whatever was corrupt didn't come along for the ride, but no guarantee.

     
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  • jenhosk
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    4. jenhosk,
    Jun 25, 2012 3:48 PM   in reply to Peter Spier
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    okay, I have exported the sections again and this time, InDesign did not crash at all. Figures...

     

    As for moving over to a new documents; this catalogue is something I inherited from a previous designer, who set up 20 master pages, 16 of them being spreads. Do I import the master pages before moving the pages over? (nevermind this last part. I am moving the pages and its duplicating the master spreads)

     
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  • Peter Spier
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    5. Peter Spier,
    Jun 25, 2012 3:51 PM   in reply to jenhosk
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    No need. They should go along for the ride (styles would too, but I was worried about soemone redefining Basic Paragraph, so if you're going to import that, you might as well impor them all).

     
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  • jenhosk
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    6. jenhosk,
    Jun 26, 2012 8:45 AM   in reply to Peter Spier
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    good morning!

     

    I have been workign on moving the pages to a new document since yesterday afternoon. Moving all 212 pages proved to be too much to handle, so I started moving them in 55 page sections. This would freeze Indesign as well, so I kept reducing the amount of pages in the sections and I am down to moving over 10 pages at a time. Indesign still freezes, so I am thinking that the file is corrupt within the 10 pages that I am trying to move. Does that sound correct?

     

    How do I know what element is corrupt and remove that element?

     
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  • Peter Spier
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    7. Peter Spier,
    Jun 26, 2012 8:54 AM   in reply to jenhosk
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    Divide and conquer. Keep dividing in half anything that fails untill you isolate a page or spread, then fid the offending objects the same way, divide and conquer.

     

    Be careful moving pages in chunks. You'll lose text threading between pages that are in different batches, so you'll need to fix that manually. Also be aware that the problem might not be file corruption. Have you tried doin a Save As to the same name for the existing files to reduce the file size?

     
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  • jenhosk
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    8. jenhosk,
    Jun 26, 2012 9:07 AM   in reply to Peter Spier
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    Yes, once I realized that there was something wrong with the file, I did the 'save as' function to reduce file size along with all the other tips and tricks from the lose 20 lbs article.

     

    I don't have text threading, as this is a product catalogue, which is good. My links are breaking as I am moving, but I can just relink them once the document is rebuilt.

     

    I am down to moving 4 pages (2 spreads) and it froze again, so I am hopeful that I am close to conquering this problem.

     
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  • Peter Spier
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    9. Peter Spier,
    Jun 26, 2012 9:10 AM   in reply to jenhosk
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    Do you mena links, as in placed images, etc? Those should not break when you move pages.

     
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  • jenhosk
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    10. jenhosk,
    Jun 26, 2012 9:24 AM   in reply to Peter Spier
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    I was wrong, the errors were not the links, but random non-assigned text, which defaulted to basic paragraph and resulted to overset text.

     

    Once I am down to the last two pages (one spread), do I copy and paste the objects individually in order to find the culprid?

     
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  • Peter Spier
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    11. Peter Spier,
    Jun 26, 2012 10:06 AM   in reply to jenhosk
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    Try moving one page, then the other.

     

    If one of them does not move, make a copy of the file for backup, then cut half the objects on the page to the clipboard (so you can put them back to divide again) and see if it will move. pating objects into the new file is probably NOT going to find the problem (but it might cure it).

     
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  • jenhosk
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    12. jenhosk,
    Jun 26, 2012 11:45 AM   in reply to Peter Spier
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    found it! The document contains a lot of icons to reference components of various tables. Some of these icons were previously copied and pasted into the Indesign file and they are not .ai, .pdf. psd files. They were just there, not llinked. Anwyay, as soon as I removed the icons, I was able to move all the pages into the new document without a crash.

     

    I am going to recreate the icons in .ai and place them properly. I think I instantly felt my head ache disapear, as this has taken me over 8hrs to complete.

     
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  • Peter Spier
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    13. Peter Spier,
    Jun 26, 2012 12:03 PM   in reply to jenhosk
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    Glad you found it. Complex vector objects (lots and lots of points) can really slow ID to a crawl or cause print/export problems. I've found very little reason to ever paste a vector instead of placing (which does not have the deleterious effects), The few times I've told myself it was a good idea because I could edit and colorize the vector object directly in ID I found myself want ing to re-use the edited version in some other project, and it would have been easier in the long run to do the work in Illustrator and link it after all.

     
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  • jenhosk
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    14. jenhosk,
    Jun 26, 2012 1:38 PM   in reply to Peter Spier
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    Thanks for your help! I am all about linking into Indesign instead of creating elements in Indesign. I am still in the process of finding all the non-linked vector objects and recreating them in AI. The new document is still running extremely slow.

     
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  • Peter Spier
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    15. Peter Spier,
    Jun 26, 2012 2:28 PM   in reply to jenhosk
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    I think for a location strategy I'd sort the links by page, then use the Links panel to find the ones thaty are linked on each page, which would let you know what isn't, but it will still be very time consuming.

     
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  • jenhosk
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    16. jenhosk,
    Jun 29, 2012 9:42 AM   in reply to Peter Spier
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    After many hours of reformatting all the icons, the corrupt file is now a functioning working file! Thanks for your help with this.

     
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