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TICKET ARCHIVE -> Indesign Memory Usage Issues
SgtPartridge - Aug 17, 2005 - 9:35 am
I run Panther on a G4 700Mhz and as it's an older, dual-boot model, I have my hard disk (small by todays standards) partitioned into a 'system' disk with the OS and apps on (15Gb), a work drive with my work on (20Gb) and a scratch disk (2Gb). This was under the advice of a former IT support company we employed.
My problem arises when I am using InDesign to work on a document with a large amount of pages with images in. After a while I start getting "Startup Disk almost full" errors. Then things start going wrong with other apps like suitcase which can no longer save changes to open font sets etc. Upon checking the free-space remaining in my 'system' disk, it says something like 57.3Mb available and not the 2Gb or more I know is free. The only way to return the free space to normal is to completely re-start my machine.
Both Illustrator and Photoshop have an option to choose the location of the Scratch Disk but InDesign doesn't seem to. Do you know of any way of choosing the location of the scratch to prevent this really annoying clogging up?
If anyone can help, I'd be most grateful.
My problem arises when I am using InDesign to work on a document with a large amount of pages with images in. After a while I start getting "Startup Disk almost full" errors. Then things start going wrong with other apps like suitcase which can no longer save changes to open font sets etc. Upon checking the free-space remaining in my 'system' disk, it says something like 57.3Mb available and not the 2Gb or more I know is free. The only way to return the free space to normal is to completely re-start my machine.
Both Illustrator and Photoshop have an option to choose the location of the Scratch Disk but InDesign doesn't seem to. Do you know of any way of choosing the location of the scratch to prevent this really annoying clogging up?
If anyone can help, I'd be most grateful.
Natobasso - Aug 17, 2005 - 3:42 pm
howdy! I've searched and searched and only found memory allocation adjustment possibilities for the PC…
However, with more info we could probably optimize your current situation.
--are you placing .psd files in your docs?
--do you have all other apps turned off while you're working?
--have you repaired permissions in a while? apps/utilities/disk utility/repair permissions
--are all your drives internal or are some external? Your 2GB drive is a bit small for a scratch disk, is it external?
We'll start here and I'll do what I can.
--------
*Nathaniel
bass guitar. graphic design. junior IT.
However, with more info we could probably optimize your current situation.
--are you placing .psd files in your docs?
--do you have all other apps turned off while you're working?
--have you repaired permissions in a while? apps/utilities/disk utility/repair permissions
--are all your drives internal or are some external? Your 2GB drive is a bit small for a scratch disk, is it external?
We'll start here and I'll do what I can.
--------
*Nathaniel
bass guitar. graphic design. junior IT.
SgtPartridge - Aug 18, 2005 - 4:22 am
Hi Nathaniel,
Many thanks for taking the trouble to reply to my problem!
In answer to your questions, no, I'm not placing .psd's in the document, the images are mainly high res Jpegs (300dpi at A4 size) and some Tiffs (also 300dpi) but there's 28 pages so that's a lot of picture data.
I don't have all other apps off while working, cos I'm constantly switching to Photoshop or Illustrator to adjust or create content for the InDesign document. As well as that, there's Suitcase, ICal, Mail and usually Safari and Messenger open as well.
As you suggested, I have repaired permissions (which I've never done before) and as I'm going to be working on the InDesign document today, I will let you know if this helps at all.
Finally, yes all the volumes are internal as it's only one physical drive partitioned into volumes. You say the scratch seems a little small at 2Gb but as far as I know, I can't adjust the volume sizes without complete data loss. It's not convenient to do a full backup and re-install including apps and downloaded stuff just for this problem, so I'm stuck with these sizes, I'm afraid!
Thanks again!
Many thanks for taking the trouble to reply to my problem!
In answer to your questions, no, I'm not placing .psd's in the document, the images are mainly high res Jpegs (300dpi at A4 size) and some Tiffs (also 300dpi) but there's 28 pages so that's a lot of picture data.
I don't have all other apps off while working, cos I'm constantly switching to Photoshop or Illustrator to adjust or create content for the InDesign document. As well as that, there's Suitcase, ICal, Mail and usually Safari and Messenger open as well.
As you suggested, I have repaired permissions (which I've never done before) and as I'm going to be working on the InDesign document today, I will let you know if this helps at all.
Finally, yes all the volumes are internal as it's only one physical drive partitioned into volumes. You say the scratch seems a little small at 2Gb but as far as I know, I can't adjust the volume sizes without complete data loss. It's not convenient to do a full backup and re-install including apps and downloaded stuff just for this problem, so I'm stuck with these sizes, I'm afraid!
Thanks again!
Natobasso - Aug 18, 2005 - 11:58 am
Make sure you convert those jpgs to tiffs before you print, will save you lots of headaches down the road.
What OS X are you running?
Normally when a drive is partitioned it's best to have the system drive be about 8-10GB and leave the other partition for apps to give you more breathing room. I believe InDesign uses something akin to virtual memory to operate and needs at least double the size of your document in order to function. Your file sounds image heavy which leads me to believe when the doc's open you're using lots of disk space (as you already know).
I'll be interested to see if the permissions thing helps you.
--------
*Nathaniel
bass guitar. graphic design. junior IT.
What OS X are you running?
Normally when a drive is partitioned it's best to have the system drive be about 8-10GB and leave the other partition for apps to give you more breathing room. I believe InDesign uses something akin to virtual memory to operate and needs at least double the size of your document in order to function. Your file sounds image heavy which leads me to believe when the doc's open you're using lots of disk space (as you already know).
I'll be interested to see if the permissions thing helps you.
--------
*Nathaniel
bass guitar. graphic design. junior IT.
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