A workaround for unexpected quits in InDesign CS3 running on Mac OS X Leopard

The scenario: You need to send a PDF of the project so you select Export from the File menu—or use the keyboard shortcut ⌘+E—and InDesign CS3 unexpectedly quits.

The reason: It most likely is an issue with Leopard’s Navigation Services (NavSvcs) as noted at Tim Cole’s InDesign BackChannel.

The workaround: Before attempting the export, select Print from the File menu (⌘+P) and click on the Printer… button at the bottom of InDesign’s print dialog box to invoke the OS’s printer dialog box (example 1).

example 1

Select Save as PostScript from the PDF drop-down button (example 2), enter a name in the following dialog box, navigate to a desired location, and hit Save. I usually save the PostScript file to my Desktop and name it blah.ps. This will return you to InDesign’s print dialog box where you can then select Print to complete the Save as PostScript process.

example 2

Now you should be able to Export without getting an unexpected quit.

The caveat: This workaround is only good for the session. You will have to do a Save as PostScript every time you start ID CS3.

The credit: It must go to Dennis Quant who posted the workaround at indesignsecrets.com

addendum July 12, 2008

Apple’s Mac OS X 10.5.4 update addresses the NavSvcs crash issue, as noted at Tim Cole’s InDesign BackChannel:

…contains more fixes for the Nav Services crash problem that manifests itself most frequently in InDesign. It also contains a fix for the file corruption problem that occurs when saving files to a remote server.

Tim also heeded that if InDesign continues to crash after applying the 10.5.4 update:

… please continue to send [Adobe] crash logs. Adobe also recommends the following workaround:

Before opening an existing document, open a new document (initializing the open/new dialog for the app)

Invoke the Place dialog (initializing this dialog with no contents to resolve), then cancel out of it

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This entry was posted on April 2, 2008 at 12:59 am and is filed under Business, Design, Technology. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments.

Tags: Dennis Quant, exporting pdf, InDesign CS3, Leopard, Mac OS X 10.5, Navigation Services, NavSvcs, Save as PostScript, Tim Cole, unexpected quit, workaround

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