autumn

I have an InDesign document where I have applied a feather gradient, some cmyk tiff files, one cmyk psd file with a transparent background, and a few drop shadows.

I have exported a pdf with the default high quality print settings.

When I select the pdf in the finder it seems as though my mac struggles to present a preview and just delays. I can open the file but it's SO slow....and from that point on, my system runs like a snail. I have no problems when I reboot and start off by doing other things...but the minute I attempt to open that particular pdf, everything on my computer just lags real bad.

I've experimented with different transparency flattening settings but nothing makes a difference.

When I removed the feather gradient, I didn't have the lag problem so that led me to believe the feather gradient is the culprit.

Any thoughts?

Thanks!
Autumn

Running Mac OS x 10.4.11
1gb ram
macbook pro
InDesign CS3
66 gb available disk space

bob levine

One gig of RAM is the very very bare minimum. You should upgrade that.

That said, are you having problems with OSX preview or Acrobat/Reader?
Preview simply isn't up to the task of displaying many of the advanced
features found in ID generated PDFs.

Bob

autumn

Thanks for the memory upgrade advice, Bob! Will check into that.

I may not have communicated properly....I didn't actually use that Preview program. I double-clicked on my hard drive icon....and in the finder preview window I selected the pdf file. I have my window set to display in columns and when I click the pdf icon it takes forever for a preview of the icon to display. Just the act of selecting the file in an OS window starts the whole chaos.

Actually I have never waited long enough to see if the pdf icon thumbnail ever does display; this rotating circle goes round and round. If I double click on the pdf it eventually opens in Acrobat Professional. I have both 8 and 9. I don't even know if I have Reader on my machine; I'm so used to using Acrobat Pro. But from that point on I will have so much lag time on my mac, InDesign won't respond, Safari won't respond, every little thing takes forever until I reboot.

But when I eliminate the feather gradient from the InDesign document and make the pdf with the same settings....there's no problem. So I actually just gave my image a feather gradient in Photoshop instead and eliminated the problem that way. But I'd still be curious to know what causes this. Could it just be memory?

Thanks for responding so quickly!
Autumn

harbs

Yes. I consider 1 GB of RAM below minimum especially with Intel
processors. I consider 2GB the bare minimum. If you have the option for
more than that on your computer, GO FOR IT!

I just bought a 4GB upgrade for my MacBook at Crucial for $50. The
difference between 2GB and 4GB is quite drastic! More than 2GB is pretty
consistently used by my system. Before I upgraded, my computer was using
VM quite a lot, and now it almost never uses it. Depending on which
MacBook Pro you have, it might support 3GB or 4GB. I'd max it out...

--
Harbs
http://www.in-tools.com

richard_sohanchyk

You must update your RAM. Buy as much as you can afford. $50 for 4GB should do. And you can put the RAM in yourself.