Acrobat trial crash when flattening layers in archtectural plans doc

[mcfl2]

Hello,

I'm evaluating Acrobat Pro DC and the trial version keeps crashing when I attempt to flatten the layers in a 52-page set of architectural plans (69MB doc).  I'm using a Windows 10 i7 16GB laptop, and I've tried repeatedly.  It basically stops responding for 30 minutes or so, then Windows force-closes it, so it's not an actual crash per se', but it doesn't complete the process.

The trial is a 32-bit program - I'm not sure that a 64-bit version is available.  Obviously, I don't have any reason to get on the hook for $15/month for a product that won't do the job, but the trial isn't going so well so far.  Any ideas?

Mark

[Karl Heinz Kremer]

Does this happen with all PDF documents, or just this one? You can try to split the document into smaller parts, and then try to figure out if one specific page is to blame: Start with 52 pages and then spit the document (Tools>Organize Pages>Split) into two 26 page documents and try to process each one. If both work, then chances are that you ran into a problem with available resources, if one of them works, and the other one fails, take the one that failed again and split it in two again - repeat that until you have one page that causes the problem. With some more effort you could then try to figure out exactly what causes the crash.

The trial version is identical in functionality to the retail version. The Mac version of 64bits, and the Windows version is a 32bit application.

[mcfl2]

Karl,

Thanks for your help.  I'm not sure what I discovered, actually.  I divided the doc into two parts.  The first crashed, then the first half of the first half, then the first half of that half, etc. until I got down to the first 7 pages.  It crashed on the 4-7 half, but didn't crash on any of the individual pages in that file when I split them into 3 separate files.  What do you suggest next?  Or do I just settle for having made it through the file and hope I don't run into the situation again?

Thanks again,

Mark

[Karl Heinz Kremer · Accepted solution]

An application should never crash, but unfortunately, that's not how things work... I was actually hoping that once you've cut down the file to smaller portions, it would just flatten without any problems, and based on your observation, for the "bad" part of the document, once you split it into individual pages, you can flatten the document. Now that you have all parts of the document flattened, you can re-assemble it by using the File>Create>Combine Files function. This will eventually give you a 52 page flattened document. It's a few more steps than you would have hoped for, but at the end you have the result that you wanted. And, it addition to that, yes, you should hope for this being an outlier and that all other files you want to process in the future will be better behaved

Because a crash is always an indication for a bug in the software, you may want to file a bug report: Feature Request/Bug Report Form

[Test Screen Name]

Also, please describe the steps you take to "flatten". Unfortunately it means at least four different things. Also, what is your aim in flattening?

[mcfl2]

The steps I was taking was clicking on the layers icon, then choosing "Flatten Layers" under the dropdown.  What I'm trying to do is reduce the complexity and drawing time on sets of construction plans, so I can distribute them to iPad & Android tablet devices in the field.  I'm glad you asked the question, because I was going to post another question asking if there's better ways to do it.

So far, I've taken a 70mb file with dozens of layers, flattened them (which for some reason caused the file to blow up to 120mb), then optimized it, which reduced it down to 62mb.  It's more easily navigable from tablets, but not nearly as much better as I'd hoped...  Is there anything else I should try?  Thanks again...

[Test Screen Name]

Ok... I see where you are coming from. However, PDF layers are nothing like layers in (for example) Photoshop. They are more like tags than layers. You can remove the layer tags, but the content is  not otherwise combined or simplified - so it's not going to make any real difference to complexity.

[mcfl2]

Ok - thanks again.  Are there any other options that reduce the complexity of drawing the pages, the size of the pages, or the number of objects?

[Test Screen Name]

The size of the pages is of no relevance either. When dealing with AutoCAD drawings, one frequently has countless thousands of lines and objects to draw, and this just takes time. Can you simplify the original (that's essentially the same problem)?