My Computer Goes Too Slow – The Adobe programs do heavily utilize your computers resources for sure, but don’t be too quick to decide you simply cannot run them, as there are lots of things that can be done before making that conclusion.
First, see how many programs you actually have running at the same time. Your computer is only a machine and can only do so much.
The Tip
If you are using a Mac then this is pretty easy to see. If you are using a PC, you may have several programs running in the background that you are totally unaware of. Making sure that you are logged in as an administrator there are windows in the control panel, which allow you to see every program that is running. Just be careful what you shut down, as some of these programs are necessary to keep your computer running properly.
Next, while you are in your Adobe program: lets take Indesign as an example. Go to the “View” dropdown and choose “Display Performance”. Choosing a lower setting will in turn reduce the amount of video memory required to run the program. Also go To: Window: Output: Separations Preview. Turning this feature off will also save an incredible amount of ram draw. The last thing to do is to always link to your images as opposed to embedding them. This will also make everything go much smoother, keeping you over all file size under control.
Lastly, see how many fonts you have loaded. If you are someone who continues to activate new fonts but never deactivates them then this can slow down your system drastically. If this is the case, deactivate all of the extra fonts that you do not regularly use by taking them out of your active font folder and placing them into another folder so that you know where to go when you need them again. This can be huge as each active font uses a just a tiny bit of memory, but a huge amount of fonts can mean a huge amount of memory.
People are often ready to give up on their computer when they start having any issues, but I prefer to save a little money and be sure that I have covered every base before doing so. Ultimately the choice is yours.
