Indesign CS4 Export PDF Crash/Quits

Hi all,
I am part of a small company, we recently bought CS3 Design Standard for 3 new G5 Intel Core 2 Duo 2.66 Ghz iMacs, all have 2GB 800MHz DDR2 SDRAM memory, but sadly Illustrator and Indesign just kept quitting, so we were forced to updrade to CS4, a cost we could have done with out, but the problem persists. We Then upgraded our Suitcase to Fusion 2, as Fusion 1's auto activate doesnt work with CS4.
Every time we try to export artwork from Indesign to a pdf format Indesign either hangs or just quits, i have had this happen well over 20 times in 1 day, we really like the style of Indesign CS4 and hope someone, anyone, can help us out.
On a different note, none of the computers can access the Adobe website, the firewalls and routers/modem dont have any sites blocked yet www.adobe.com is the only one we can not access, any ideas??
Thanks for your time.

Here is the crash report if this helps anyone.
Process: Adobe InDesign CS4 [46404]
Path: /Applications/Adobe InDesign CS4/Adobe InDesign CS4.app/Contents/MacOS/Adobe InDesign CS4
Identifier: com.adobe.InDesign
Version: 6.0.0.352 (6000)
Code Type: PPC (Translated)
Parent Process: launchd [75]
Date/Time: 2009-02-03 17:23:00.514 +0000
OS Version: Mac OS X 10.5.6 (9G55)
Report Version: 6
Exception Type: EXC_BAD_ACCESS (SIGBUS)
Exception Codes: KERN_PROTECTION_FAILURE at 0x000000000000000b
Crashed Thread: 0
Thread 0 Crashed:
0 ??? 0x550dd9cb 0 + 1426971083
Thread 1:
0 ??? 0x800bc1c6 0 + 2148254150
1 ??? 0x800c39bc 0 + 2148284860
2 translate 0xb818b6ea CallPPCFunctionAtAddressInt + 202886
3 ??? 0x800ed095 0 + 2148454549
4 ??? 0x800ecf52 0 + 2148454226
Thread 2:
0 translate 0xb815289e spin_lock_wrapper + 90594
1 translate 0xb816e8a7 CallPPCFunctionAtAddressInt + 84547
2 translate 0xb80dfb0b 0xb8000000 + 916235
Thread 3:
0 translate 0xb8152c24 spin_lock_wrapper + 91496
1 translate 0xb81714a8 CallPPCFunctionAtAddressInt + 95812
2 translate 0xb80dfb0b 0xb8000000 + 916235
Thread 4:
0 translate 0xb81529ef spin_lock_wrapper + 90931
1 translate 0xb8183633 CallPPCFunctionAtAddressInt + 169935
2 translate 0xb81861e2 CallPPCFunctionAtAddressInt + 181118
3 translate 0xb80dfb0b 0xb8000000 + 916235
Thread 5:
0 translate 0xb8152c24 spin_lock_wrapper + 91496
1 translate 0xb816c825 CallPPCFunctionAtAddressInt + 76225
2 translate 0xb80dfb0b 0xb8000000 + 916235
Thread 6:
0 translate 0xb815282c spin_lock_wrapper + 90480
1 translate 0xb816e6a1 CallPPCFunctionAtAddressInt + 84029
2 translate 0xb80dfb0b 0xb8000000 + 916235
Thread 7:
0 translate 0xb815282c spin_lock_wrapper + 90480
1 translate 0xb816f427 CallPPCFunctionAtAddressInt + 87491
2 translate 0xb80dfb0b 0xb8000000 + 916235
Thread 8:
0 translate 0xb8152be5 spin_lock_wrapper + 91433
1 translate 0xb8162e31 CallPPCFunctionAtAddressInt + 36813
2 translate 0xb80dfb0b 0xb8000000 + 916235
Thread 9:
0 translate 0xb815289e spin_lock_wrapper + 90594
1 translate 0xb816e8a7 CallPPCFunctionAtAddressInt + 84547
2 translate 0xb80dfb0b 0xb8000000 + 916235
Thread 10:
0 translate 0xb815282c spin_lock_wrapper + 90480
1 translate 0xb816e6a1 CallPPCFunctionAtAddressInt + 84029
2 translate 0xb80dfb0b 0xb8000000 + 916235
Thread 11:
0 translate 0xb815282c spin_lock_wrapper + 90480
1 translate 0xb816f427 CallPPCFunctionAtAddressInt + 87491
2 translate 0xb80dfb0b 0xb8000000 + 916235
Thread 12:
0 translate 0xb815282c spin_lock_wrapper + 90480
1 translate 0xb816e6a1 CallPPCFunctionAtAddressInt + 84029
2 translate 0xb80dfb0b 0xb8000000 + 916235
Thread 13:
0 translate 0xb815282c spin_lock_wrapper + 90480
1 translate 0xb816e6a1 CallPPCFunctionAtAddressInt + 84029
2 translate 0xb80dfb0b 0xb8000000 + 916235
Thread 14:
0 translate 0xb815282c spin_lock_wrapper + 90480
1 translate 0xb816e6a1 CallPPCFunctionAtAddressInt + 84029
2 translate 0xb80dfb0b 0xb8000000 + 916235
Thread 15:
0 translate 0xb815282c spin_lock_wrapper + 90480
1 translate 0xb816f427 CallPPCFunctionAtAddressInt + 87491
2 translate 0xb80dfb0b 0xb8000000 + 916235
Thread 16:
0 translate 0xb81529ef spin_lock_wrapper + 90931
1 translate 0xb8183633 CallPPCFunctionAtAddressInt + 169935
2 translate 0xb81861e2 CallPPCFunctionAtAddressInt + 181118
3 translate 0xb80dfb0b 0xb8000000 + 916235
Thread 17:
0 translate 0xb815282c spin_lock_wrapper + 90480
1 translate 0xb816e6a1 CallPPCFunctionAtAddressInt + 84029
2 translate 0xb80dfb0b 0xb8000000 + 916235
Thread 18:
0 translate 0xb815282c spin_lock_wrapper + 90480
1 translate 0xb816e6a1 CallPPCFunctionAtAddressInt + 84029
2 translate 0xb80dfb0b 0xb8000000 + 916235
Thread 19:
0 translate 0xb8152863 spin_lock_wrapper + 90535
1 translate 0xb816e79d CallPPCFunctionAtAddressInt + 84281
2 translate 0xb80bdb8b 0xb8000000 + 777099
3 translate 0xb80b7007 0xb8000000 + 749575
4 translate 0xb80d49c0 0xb8000000 + 870848
5 translate 0xb813ce79 spin_lock_wrapper + 1981
Thread 20:
0 translate 0xb81529ef spin_lock_wrapper + 90931
1 translate 0xb8183633 CallPPCFunctionAtAddressInt + 169935
2 translate 0xb81861e2 CallPPCFunctionAtAddressInt + 181118
3 translate 0xb80dfb0b 0xb8000000 + 916235
Thread 21:
0 translate 0xb81529ef spin_lock_wrapper + 90931
1 translate 0xb8183633 CallPPCFunctionAtAddressInt + 169935
2 translate 0xb81861e2 CallPPCFunctionAtAddressInt + 181118
3 translate 0xb80dfb0b 0xb8000000 + 916235
Thread 22:
0 translate 0xb8152c24 spin_lock_wrapper + 91496
1 translate 0xb816c825 CallPPCFunctionAtAddressInt + 76225
2 translate 0xb80dfb0b 0xb8000000 + 916235
Thread 23:
0 translate 0xb8152c24 spin_lock_wrapper + 91496
1 translate 0xb81714a8 CallPPCFunctionAtAddressInt + 95812
2 translate 0xb80dfb0b 0xb8000000 + 916235
Thread 24:
0 translate 0xb8152be5 spin_lock_wrapper + 91433
1 translate 0xb8162cb9 CallPPCFunctionAtAddressInt + 36437
2 translate 0xb80bdb8b 0xb8000000 + 777099
3 translate 0xb80b7007 0xb8000000 + 749575
4 translate 0xb80d49c0 0xb8000000 + 870848
5 translate 0xb813d75f spin_lock_wrapper + 4259
Thread 25:
0 translate 0xb815289e spin_lock_wrapper + 90594
1 translate 0xb816e8a7 CallPPCFunctionAtAddressInt + 84547
2 translate 0xb80dfb0b 0xb8000000 + 916235
Thread 26:
0 ??? 0x800c33ae 0 + 2148283310
1 ??? 0x800edd0d 0 + 2148457741
2 ??? 0xe9ddbb32 0 + 3923622706
3 ??? 0x800ed095 0 + 2148454549
4 ??? 0x800ecf52 0 + 2148454226
Thread 27:
0 translate 0xb815289e spin_lock_wrapper + 90594
1 translate 0xb816e8a7 CallPPCFunctionAtAddressInt + 84547
2 translate 0xb80dfb0b 0xb8000000 + 916235

Similar Messages

CS3: Export PDF crash...located the source, now what?

InDesign CS3 keeps crashing on page 86 or 87 of a file I'm trying to Export to PDF. I know this from watching the progress bar move across the screen, everything is fine until the status box shows page 86/87, then poof, InDesign disappears and requests to send an error report. I was under the impression this was being caused by the Export PDF settings. With printer's marks enabled, the Export PDF crash occurs on page 86. Turn printer's marks off and the crash happens on page 87. So I tried all kinds of things with Export PDF settings but came up empty.
Then I messed around with pages 86 and 87. Removed text frames from page 86 and tried various combinations with Export PDF. Did the same thing on page 87, and then combinations of 86 and 87 at the same time. No good...keeps crashing. I removed ALL content from pages 86 and 87 and the Export PDF still crashes, even with blank pages.
I finally got a clue when moving text frames to other pages. Both pages have 4 text frames each. When I moved the top text frame on page 87 to a different page -- in this case I moved it to page 98 -- the Export PDF crashed on page 96. Not page 98 where it was located, but page 96. Weird, but it gave me a clue.
Long story short:
Export PDF causes InDesign to crash on page 86 or 87 unless the uppermost text frame on page 87 is moved to a non-printing layer. The text frame can remain on page 87 or be on the pasteboard; either way, it must be non-printing to prevent a crash in Export PDF mode.
Any suggestions? I've already searched the text frame and nothing out of the ordinary catches my eye. The text frame is necessary for a book project. I can't consolidate it with another frame.
Thanks in advance!

My memory is not so great after all...
The bug was in CS4 and it was fixed in 6.0.4. I remembered the rest correctly...
Here's the tech note:
Type on a Path fails to draw in output (PDF, Print, JPEG) on the 35th and subsequent spreads. [2297179]
Harbs

InDesign CS4 - Windows 7 crashes when Edit Original

Ever since I upgraded to Windows7 my InDesign CS4 will frequently crash when I click in an image to edit the original, usually the image is a psd. I did not experience this problem using Windows XP CS3. Since I upgraded both my Adobe suite and my operating system at the same time I am not sure who is the culprit.
Has anyone else had this happen? Any ideas as to what is causing this?
It certainly gets frustrating trying to get work done with this going on.

I don't remember anyone else reporting this, and a forum search seems to bear this out, so this isn't a common problem and is likely to be something specific to your system. Are you getting an error message?

InDesign CS4 Export and PDF Printing Problem

Whenever we print PDFs created from InDesign CS4 documents that contain transparencies, drop shadows or gradients we've been having issues. White boxes will appear instead of the drop shadows and transparencies, and the colors of the gradient images will be completely different from what's in the original file. Of course, the PDF always looks perfect on the screen, and the .indd document prints correctly. The problems only occur when we print the PDFs.
We create the PDFs in InDesign using the File>Export function, and we've tried every version of PDF compatibility from 4 to 8. We're not exactly sure if this is an InDesign issue or an Acrobat issue, but we wanted to check and see if there's something specific we need to do doing during the exporting process to prevent this from happening.
Our IT department has been working on this but they're stumped, and the fine folks at Xerox insist that our printers are "fully operational."
We quickly looked through previous postings and didn't see another problem like this one listed, but we apologize if this has already been addressed and we are posting the same issue twice.
Any suggestions or insight anyone can offer is greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Thanks Bob! I followed the information the links you provided and it solved our problems! I won't bore you with the details of how long how many different people have been trying to solve this issue, but let's just say it's a lot.
You are being virtually hugged and/or high-fived by our entire Communications, IT and Printing Departments. THANK YOU!

Missing € character when exporting from Indesign (CS4) to PDF

I think the subject line says it all. I'm not an expert user, but have not previously had
this problem. I get a new iMac with CS4 reinstalled
and now 'lose' the Euro character when I export my Indesign files to
PDF - does anyone have any advice please? Thanks.

Even so - I don't know why - but the problem is with some fonts that the Euro doesn't show.
I always use the Euro font for the Euro symbol and never have an issue.
Even if you do manage to get the Helvetica Euro to show up in the PDF there is a chance it can drop out at the RIP stage and not appear in print - I've seen it happen far too many times.
Euro font is your friend.

InDesign CS4 generated PDFs bringing computers to their knees

I've see no reports of this, but PDFs exported from InDesign CS4 are bringing our G5 iMacs to their knees. My 2.0 Mhz machine with 1.5 Gig of RAM is unable to display the preview in the Finder. The same thing happens on my wife's slightly faster G5 iMac.
My iMac/Intel has displayed the preview, but it took quite a while.
This particular PDF (which I've copied to each machine so there's no network issues here) is 7.9 MB and was made with the Press Quality preset.
Newsflash: After about five minutes, my G5 has finally displayed the preview in the Finder window.
My wife has been working with smaller PDFs, using a Proof setting that converts to RGB, resamples and compresses the images. With those settings, the preview takes about a minute in her Finder and then another minute when she tries to attach the PDF to mail.
Has anyone else experienced anything like this?

Thanks for the feedback. Me too, Sandee. And so had Pam until recently. But we're scratching our heads about what might have changed.
It looks as though the time is being spent by the Finder making the previews (for every page?). Is there a way for InDesign to make those previews? Does it?
Grasping at straws.
By the way, we running Tiger 10.4.11. And the PDFs sent to our Windows-using client have caused him no problem whatsoever.
Dave

Printer spreads in InDesign CS4 to PDF

I have created a 12-page booklet in InDesign CS4. My printer only has CS3 and says they can't open the InDesign file I sent them, even though I sent a .inx file (made from exporting the file as cs3). I sent them a press quality pdf and they said they cannot use that because it is not printer spreads.
Can I make a pdf of printer spreads? When I choose Print Booklet, I only get choices to print to my printer.

Whenever the words printer and do your own imposing are put together, my mind goes to full-service copy shops or digital printers.
I use "printers" like this all the time, and they basically use better printers than my office can afford and have a few other extras for folding and binding. It can be useful, but it isn't offset.
IF this is the type of printer you mean, imposing yourself isn't so unusual. They often aren't set up for that, or will charge extra.
I use print booklet to generate the PDF to whatever standard they need. (I sure miss InBooklet.)
Again, if it's a copy shop setup, a flattened PDF is the way to go, and perhaps even RGB (many copy shops don't have ripping software).

Indesign CS4 to PDF 1.3 transparency issue

We submitted an ad to the local newspaper that we created in Indesign CS4 and Acrobat 9. The ad was exported as a press-quality Acrobat 4 PDF.
It is a fairly simple layout, with type and a logo.
The headline and logo have a drop shadow applied with multiply blend mode. All colors are CMYK.
When the ad prints, the headline and logo have 1% black-filled boxes around them.
I know this is a transparency issue. However, we've done the same ad in Indesign CS3 and Acrobat 8 with no problems as long as we were CMYK and Acrobat 4.
Has something changed in CS4 that I don't know about? Could it be the multiply blend mode rather than normal?
Problem is, the newspaper can't give me a proof -- we have to wait and see what happens when they print. I can't simulate the problem on my end. The ad prints perfectly on my HP5000N in b/w and on my Phaser 8560 in color.
One workaround suggested was to export the file as a JPG or EPS and save as a Photoshop PDF. We did that on one ad that will run Monday, so we'll see. However, that makes the files with photos enormous -- like from 4 mb to 26 mb.
Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. We're in the middle of an ad campaign and we're resorted to the old-fashioned manual drop shadow out of desperation!
mev

Has something changed in CS4 that I don't know about? Could it be the multiply blend mode rather than normal?
Something did change. In some cases (maybe all), the flattener in CS4 will put the shadow behind the background rather than in front. In both cases, though, using a RIP and/or viewer which is set to honor overprints will avoid the problem, and allow the artwork to render correctly.
You say that all colors are CMYK. Are you absolutely certain that the background (whatever the rectangular shadow-containing "boxes" knock out) is not a spot color? Your problem description would be more easily explicable if it were.
One workaround suggested was to export the file as a JPG or EPS and save as a Photoshop PDF. We did that on one ad that will run Monday, so we'll see. However, that makes the files with photos enormous -- like from 4 mb to 26 mb
This in itself suggests that these folks do not know what they are doing (though I know that's not terribly helpful to you if you need to advertise with them). I must say that given current economic realities in the newspaper business, it's hard to image a paper refusing to cooperate with a paying advertiser - especially one who has been previously bitten - if not by the newspaper's own incompetence, at least by their unwillingness/inability to provide a proof.

InDesign CS4 to PDF - Missing characters

I created a brochure (2-sided with lots of copy) using InDesign CS4; I exported it to PDF [Compatibility: Acrobat 5 (PDF 1.4)].
When opened in Acrobat 9 Professional on my computer, the file contents were perfect. The file was sent as an email attachment to prepress. When the printer opened it using Acrobat 7.0 Professional (don't know if it was on PC or Mac; they have both), there were missing characters.
The word "officer" occurred eight times in the document. In two of those occurrences, the characters "ffi" were missing. The remaining 926 words conveyed without a problem.
Any insights will be appreciated.
Frank

Embedding the entire font shouldn't make any difference whatsoever. InDesign embeds all the glyphs that are used. If the font is embedded at all, Acrobat only uses the embedded font.
Furthermore, Acrobat (including Acrobat 7) uses the local fonts option if and only if the font being accessed is not at all embedded and that particular font is on the user's system.
What is very suspect here is that the ffi ligature appears correctly in only 2 out of 8 occurrences in the word officer and that you see no problems on your system using Acrobat 9 Pro.
Here is what I would look for:
(1) Ascertain that the font is really embedded at all. Use CTRL-D and look to see whether the font is either embedded or subset embedded. If neither, that is the source of the problem. You could also run a preflight profile to ascertain that all fonts are properly embedded.
(2) You might want to find out what your printer is
really doing with your file. Is he opening a page or two in Illustrator, something can can cause very strange PDF corruptions? Are there any steps that he is performing before opening it in Acrobat such as processing it in some prehistoric workflow system that has more errors than an early Mets game?
(3) Find out whether your printer at least has Acrobat 7 updated with all the updates issued by Adobe. They were a whole carload of them. I think about 12 such updates in the 24 months that Acrobat 7 was current. You might also want to suggest that at this point, Acrobat 7 is a fairly old version for any printer that wants to stay up to date in terms of PDF print publishing workflow.
- Dov

Images shrink from Indesign CS4 to PDF

I design ads at a set size in a frame in Indesign CS4. I just noticed that when I print them to PDF (regardless of the PDF distiller settings), they shrink. I have the print dialog box settings at 100%. Printing to a physical printer does not have this problem. How can I get 100% to mean 100% when I print to PDF? It has nothing to do with my art. I could just have a box frame, and it would shrink that.

The original is 7.25 wide. The PDF is about 6.75 wide.(Height is proportional in both).
I am not printing FROM PDF. I am printing TO PDF. The magazine production rep was the first one to notice how off the PDF file was. At first, I had created the page size to be the size of the ad. That produced an even smaller PDF of the ad on letter paper than after I recreated the ad on a letter sized page to begin with. It is still off by about .5 inch though.
And if I do print from PDF, I am set to no scaling (not shrink or fit).

Indesign 2014 exporting pdf for web large fiel size

I am exporting an Indesign 2014 file to pdf print for web. I have tried smallest file size, Acrobat 4 & 5 and also selected transparency flattener when exporting pdf. File comes out to 12MB either way. I have gone into Adobe pdf and optimized the pdf and comes out around 11MB. The Indesign file has some small photoshop images also layered vector AI file. I have flattened the AI file and placed that image in Indesign but file is still large. With the AI file I have exported it as a jpeg and placed that in Indesign and file comes out fine for web under 1 MB. Checking with the group if there is a way that Indesign can export the AI file without replacing it as a jpeg.

Checking with the group?
The best and most logical way would be to export a PDF from the AI and place that one, so ID just needs to copy. ID is not an AI-to-PDF converter.

Buttons not working - InDesign (CS4) Interactive Pdf

I've been creating an interactive pdf document for a client over the last few months.
Initially, this was going to be a 70 page document, with limited interactivity (some forwards and back buttons etc.).
Now, this has grown and is a 220 page document, with rollover buttons that reveal other buttons layered on top of each other, various menus to navigate back and forth through the document, masses of content, images, bookmarks etc! And, I'm experiencing problems with buttons/ links now working when the pdf is exported.
Some of the buttons that don't work on exporting pdf, in the inDesign file appear to be set up in the correct way, I have even rebuilt some of them still with no luck on exporting them.
Is the document now too big and too complex to work??
If anyone at Adobe could give me some of their expert advice that would be much appreciated as myself and colleagues are now out of ideas!
Many thanks!

I've been having experiencing a similar problem after I chose to create a digital presentation with InDesign instead of PowerPoint.
It's basically a showcase of products with several non-linear navigation buttons (for which I use buttons, bookmarks and the "Go to Destination" option).
There are several videos, so I thought that the interactive PDF container would be the best choice for a single file, since this presentation is to be distributed to many sales representatives.
Everything was fine until there were about 100 "pages" (slides). After this point, the "Go to Destination" buttons stopped working (although the mouse cursor indeed changes to a pointing hand). Only the "Go to next page" buttons do work, and I have already tried to export the PDF in several ways. I've been really thrilled by what kinds of restrictions does an interactive PDF have.
Have you found any solutions to this matter? I think I have pushed this functionality over its limits...

Indesign CS4 - Export to SWF and font issue

Hello,
How do you embed a font in an Indesign CS4 document when you are going to export it to an SWF file?
I have an Indesign CS4 document that uses a particular font. This document is then exported to an SWF file which is then uploaded in our intranet website. When users view the internal website, the SWF font uses a different font like Times New Romans. I do not get this issue because I have the particular font used in that document installed on my machine.
Are there any work arounds for this issue other than distributing the font used in that exported SWF file?

InDesign should embedd fonts by default when exported to swf... may be you have some protected font in use? do you have problems with other fonts too? Quick and dirty workaround is convert your text to outlines... not good one but fast...

[MAC: InDesign CS4] Export to Dreamweaver bug

Hi,
I have InDesign files with graphics (.eps, tif, ai, psd) linking but the original grapics are missing. I have to do xhtml conversion without graphics and to keep the original graphic file name linking in the xhtml. Earlier when I export the CS3 file to xhtml via "Export to Dreamweaver..." and check the option "Copy Images" as "Original". InDesign stored all the file names in the xhtml file whether it is missing or not.
InDesgin CS3 (xhtml output)
<img src="00_99cent-web-images/99%20cover%20text_illus.ai" alt="missing image file" />
The problem is nowadays we are getting InDesign CS4 files we have upgraded the software to InDesign CS4, with latest path 6.0.5, but when generating the xhtml via "Export to Dreamweaver..." it doesn't give the graphic name.
InDesgin CS4 (xhtml output)
<img src="00_99cent-web-images/" alt="missing image file" />
Could you please look into this and do the needful.
Thanks,
Anil Yadav

Hi Peter,
The strange thing is, I just come to know, it is working well on InDesign-PC.
This is really strange that something is fixed on PC plateform but not on MaC. Anway I have log the problem at bug report form
Regards,
Anil Yadav

InDesign CS4 still always crashes

I posted this the other day but now it's saying that my question was answered, which it wasn't. I still really need help/advice/input/info ASAP.
I have never been able to successfully run InDesign CS4 on my 15" MacBook Pro I bought in 2007. (OS X 10.4.11) I haven't had problems with any of the other software/programs in the suite. The program appears to install fine, but as soon as I try to open the program or an .indd file, the most InDesign has ever done is allow me to open a new file or show the file I tried to open before the program stops responding and I have to force quit.
I've had CS4 for about a year now, and I got new installation discs about 6 months ago because one of my original ones got scratched. I've had several long conversations with Adobe customer service, none of which have made any difference. I've run Clean Script twice, deleting the AdobeFnt11.lst file, and I've tried downloading a trial version at least 3 times.
I'm a commuting graphic design student and I've been putting up with needing to go to the campus labs to do any InDesign work for so long because I haven't absolutely needed to use it very frequently until now. It's crucial for me to make InDesign work on my MacBook Pro ASAP. I can't afford paying hundreds of dollars for a disgnostic/repair if I could at all avoid it, let alone the significant amount of time I'd have to go without my computer to do that, so I'd really love to have more options to explore. Help! Ideas, anyone? Pretty please?

Thank you both for the advice, but so far, no dice.
I had tried making a new user account a while back to no avail, but decided to be safe I'd delete that old user and made a new one, but the new user account had the same problems with InDesign.
Then I tried everything you suggested in order:
"Rule out all the other stuff running on the system. (shut it down with Activity Monitor)"
Which processes should I quit? "All, My, Administrator, Other User, Active, Inactive or Windowed" processes are my options. I quit all Active processes that I could (processes "pmTool" "kernel_task" and "WindowServer" would show up again right after I tried to quit them) except Activity Monitor.
"Repair permissions (Disc Utility)"
After quitting the processes, I repaired permissions on my hard drive.
"And trash the CS preferences."
Here's where I feel the least certain of what exactly needs to be done. Do I need to put all preferences involving all CS4 programs in the trash and empty it? I didn't want to jeopardize my other programs, so I put just the preferences that had to do with InDesign -- as well as saved/recovery data, defaults, and the AdobeFnt11.lst file from InDesign -- in the trash. Just to be safe, I made a new folder, copied those files into it and then put the folder on a flash drive. After moving (not copying) the folder onto the drive and ejecting the drive, I emptied the trash and tried to launch InDesign. Same problem--it starts up and lets me open a file (new or previously saved) but as soon as the file shows on screen the program stops responding and I have to force quit it.
If I need to get rid of more preferences, which ones should I try deleting and exactly where would I find those files (so I know for sure I'm deleting all the right ones from all the right places)? Other ideas?
This has been such a frustrating, time-consuming headache/nightmare. If Adobe paid me a living wage for all the time and money I've spent trying to get any use out of their program (that should never have been a problem in the first place) as well as for all the time and money I've had to spend simply because I haven't been able to use InDesign on my only computer, I'd be fully reimbursed for my CS4 purchase by now -- or at least I'd be getting pretty darn close. Not an exaggeration.

Indesign CS4 Export PDF Crash/Quits

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for