I'm Dying here. I've been working a pretty complicated plot with 33 layers and LX Beams has been working great up until today. Now every 2 minutes, the app gets hung on the Pin-wheel of death for 3 minutes. I'm having a hard time getting my work complete for a build that starts Monday.
Please help.
Pin-Wheel of Death
Okay, I think I figured out the cause of the problem. The multiple PDFs I was using of our stage plan had a huge file size. I downrezed the files in acrobat and it helped out tremendously. The program still hangs, but only for about 10 seconds as opposed to 3 minutes now.
Is there a maximum recommended files size for background layers when building a plot? I’ve got the files down to 1-2.5mb right now.
Thanks for the prompt reply.
Is there a maximum recommended files size for background layers when building a plot? I’ve got the files down to 1-2.5mb right now.
Thanks for the prompt reply.
There's not really a set maximum because the available memory can vary widely depending on how your computer is set up. One big factor in how much memory is used is the View->Faster PDF Display option. When this is enabled, a PDF is rendered into memory so that the display can be updated quickly. There is resolution lost when zoomed in using this option. However, a large PDF, particularly one with lots of text boxes, can cause the display to update slowly when doing common things like selecting an object. The larger the PDF, the more memory it uses when pre-rendered by View->Faster PDF Display. At some point, there is a tradeoff if memory usage increases until it has to be swapped from the computer's hard drive into ram and back continually. At that point, for a large drawing, View->Faster PDF Display may actually slow things down. But, when using a large amount of memory, the display will generally slow down anyway.
As a side note, View->Faster PDF Display does not use the pre-rendered PDF when printing or exporting. So, you do not lose resolution in the output.
A strategy for including large PDFs is to place them on a layer and only make that layer visible when necessary. A large PDF will add time to opening a file. But, after the file is open, if the PDF is not visible, it shouldn't cause the program to slow down unless available memory is very limited.
As a side note, View->Faster PDF Display does not use the pre-rendered PDF when printing or exporting. So, you do not lose resolution in the output.
A strategy for including large PDFs is to place them on a layer and only make that layer visible when necessary. A large PDF will add time to opening a file. But, after the file is open, if the PDF is not visible, it shouldn't cause the program to slow down unless available memory is very limited.