Indesign CS6 So SLOW

[kdw75]

We are using Indesign to run variable data imprints and it is unbelievably slow. I deleted 2500 pages in a file and it took over 30 minutes! The pages have just a few lines of text, so there isn't a lot of complex art. Page icon previews are shut off.

The machine is running Windows 7 64-bit with a Quad Core Hyperthreaded CPU running at 3.6 GHz. It has 24 GB of RAM and a has an Intel 520 SSD.

 

[DCurry]

Make sure the Preflight is turned off. That can really drag things down.

 

[mbeach]

Have you considered running your variable "on the fly" instead of using InDesign? InDesign has to regenerate the same page for every variable and this is incredibly slow. It works well for short lists but if this is something you will be doing with long lists (hundreds-thousands), it would be well worth your time and money to look at other options. (placing your variable list on the print server, using Fusion Pro, etc..)

 

[BarbWPP]

As a workaround, why not make a new doc and copy/paste-in-place what you need, then delete the old file entirely, might take less time. Doing a Save As won't get rid of the un-needed pages.

 

[Visualaid]

I also use Indesign for my vd projects. I find that Indesign is slow/buggy if you "allow" it in your firewall. I also found out you can't have Firefox open and use the hand tool in Indesign & Illustrator-weird huh.
Another thing that slows Indesign down is keeping High Quality Display on. Use Typical. You also may want to change some of your Indesign preferences. How many history states are you using? How many files do you keep in your Open Recent?
I have the Fusionpro plugin for Acrobat/Indesign, but I cannot get it to work on the imac. I've used Fusionpro before on a PC and never had problems.

 

[buckeye]

I'm of the belief that, just because you CAN, doesn't mean you should do it in InDesign. InDesign, IMHO, is not geared for large variable data records. We use FusionPro but on occasion will use Data Merge in InDesign - but only if the record count is 500, or preferably less.

I also understand that if that's all you have to work with, then you do what you have to do.

If it takes half an hour or more for you to create the merged document in InDesign, then that's when you go to your boss and say "which is the lesser of two evils, lost production time or money spent on new software?"

FusionPro is money well spent in my book. (And no I don't work for FusionPro.)

-Erik

 

[onwsk8r]

I work for a shop that has the opposite view of Buckeye. I just got home from that shop about 10 minutes ago (9:30pm central time) because we spend all of our time fighting with equipment instead of doing printing. From what I hear, we may be one of those 1/3 of printers that's "leaving the marketplace" because instead of spending $500 on some silly software/lease payment/etc, we'd rather increase each employee's paycheck by a couple hundred dollars in overtime!

That being said, I used to work for a well run shop. Having been on both sides of the fence, and getting back to the OP, InDesign is not really running "slow" per se, it's just not meant to do things like that. The previous posters covered some good ID "tuning" tips, and your hardware sounds pretty good, so unless you have some weird stuff going on with your system, it sounds like you're probably just pushing the limits.
BTW - InDesign doesn't take advantage of multiple CPU's, so doesn't that just suck. I find my CPU usage on my quad-core to be frequently MAXED OUT AT 25%

To get back off topic again: I used to do VD in ID (see what I did there?) and I thought it was awesome, but now I've moved up in the world and I feel like it's the end of the world when I do ID VD because it's _so_ slow and occasionally painful. Moral of the story: Get real variable data software if you're doing anything more complicated than merging < 1000 names into a form letter. Try it. I promise you'll agree that you owe me a beer.

 

[MailGuru]

Think of "software" as a "tool" - (no different from a hammer, screwdriver, wrench, etc.) that helps you peform a task. One could actually drive a nail with the handle-end of a large screwdriver. It would be a royal PITA, but it can be done. But why? Using a hammer would be much more efficient, less time-consuming and less frustrating.

As anyone in the bindery will tell you, using the right tool for the right job is sooooo much faster as well as more profitable.

Buckeye is correct. While InDesign will perform some simplistic VD merges for you, it's not what ID was designed to do. Just because you CAN, doesn't mean you should. Invest in some actual VD merge software, and you will see that using the right tool for the right job will pay off in dividends