Maximum output file size - XMPie

natty

Well-known member
Hi,

Just wondering if there is a maximum file size for XMPie to be able to output as PDF...

we have a job with heavy image personalisation and we have had to split it up a lot because when we run it as a complete set it seems to crash upon distilling the postscript (or at imposition i'm not sure)...

And there seems to be a constant threshold at which it crashes (say 100 + records and it crashes everytime - 100 or less it always works)...

Is this just because the files are just too large to process ? And is this dependent on the configuration of the processing machine ?
 
As XMPie uses Acrobat to create the PDF there is a 2GB limit to the PostScript (which is created first) which is used to create the PDF
 
In the latest version (v5.02) they have removed the 2gb limit.
There is an option to fail at 2gb, this is for RIP's that cannot handle large files.
 
You don't say how you are submitting it but hopefully not as File | Print. And if you are submitting it to a RIP that accepts Native PDF's that RIP will have to convert it to Postscript before ripping it. SO resources of the RIP come into play. The new APPE RIP's help eleviate some of that. Have you tried PPML? Most RIP's support that and can sometimes be more efficient. I'm assuming that the XMPie file has been optimized for efficiency too?
 
We are submitting as PDF...

The files are very well optimised... In fact the size of the output PDF files are pretty much the same as the sum total of all of the assets (we are printing basically postcards with each record having it's own uImage image)

So in this case i don't know if PPML is actually going to improve performance as there is no real re-usability involved anyway ???
 
I hate to say this, but I think you're out of luck :/

I did a job last year, also with uImage personalization, and InDesign crashed ALL the time, until I gave up and did the job in batches of 20 records - hard time doing, as there was 2000 records, and each output took about half an hour :(

What you may benefit of is this:
All of the static elements, if any, should be output to a PDF, and placed in a new InDesign document, and then you do merge / XMPie in that document. Also, as a great bargain, I found out that if you do PDF output, the normalizer XMPie uses, takes 3-4 times as long as if you just output postscript and let a Distiller on a PC do the conversion (or maybe the rip, depends on which press / RIP you have, actually my HP Indigo is faster on PostScript files than PDF files!), and then your InDesign can output the next batch.

If you are an experienced XMPie user, please PM me, I have a few things I would like to discuss with other XMPie users!

Kind regards,
Tommy
The Odd World Of Odd IT
 
I hate to say this, but I think you're out of luck :/The Odd World Of Odd IT

No where there is a will there is always a way i find ;)

20 records - hard time doing, as there was 2000 records, and each output took about half an hour :(The Odd World Of Odd IT

Wow that is very slow going... What sort of computer were you doing this on... I would expect you would want a powerhouse churning away...

On my system i hit the 2gig file limit on .ps within 1 hour of processing or less, so it's not the time that's an issue it's the file size really...

All of the static elements, if any, should be output to a PDF, and placed in a new InDesign document, and then you do merge / XMPie in that document. The Odd World Of Odd IT

Already worked this out... Although it is a pain to have all of these different working files for the various optimisation steps

I found out that if you do PDF output, the normalizer XMPie uses, takes 3-4 times as long as if you just output postscript and let a Distiller on a PC do the conversion (or maybe the rip, depends on which press / RIP you have, actually my HP Indigo is faster on PostScript files than PDF files!), and then your InDesign can output the next batch.The Odd World Of Odd IT

This is odd, as someone mentioned above doesn't XMPie use distiller to create PDF's anyway ??? I know that in the config files there are .joboptions files which are what distiller uses ??
 
By using a plug in VDP application you're always going to have to deal with the limitations of the application its plugged into. Acrobat and InDesign are made to deliver static documents. While creating VDP output is possible you are eventually going to run into a wall.

A stand alone VDP application such as Jet Letter's PSL PageBuilder PRO can still work with the static components created in these applications and provide its own set of design capabilities. Large complex jobs do not choke.
 

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