File size growing increasing bloating
Illustrator 22.0.1 (64bit), Windows 10 64bit (latest version), 64GB RAM, 3.5Ghz 12 core CPU, 2x large SSDs
As of last week, I have been encountering an issue with file sizes growing larger and larger each time I save. The file grows even when I only move or even delete objects. The larger the file becomes the more it adds with each save, and the slower it becomes. It’s as though it’s doing something like saving history states (although not in any useful way).
This is a huge problem; the project file I’m currently working on, though modest in complexity (75k points, only a few effects going on) compared to other files I work on, has grown to over 130MB when I’d expect it to be around 20MB. Each time save the file, even to remove parts of the picture, it adds MBs to the file size. It’s currently taking 30 seconds to save. It has ceased to be usable.
Things I’ve tested in an attempt to resolve the issue:
• Uninstalling plugins
• Reinstalling illustrator
• Testing files on 3 other PCs around the office (they all have the same issue)
• Deleting all objects with effects of all sorts
• Expanding artwork
• Deleting symbols, graphic styles, swatches etc
• Vector First Aid, removing points, unnecessary groups, masks etc. (before I tried uninstalling plugins obviously)
• changing colour mode
• 300dpi > 72dpi raster effects
None of that helped.
I also tried making a small file and adding text and paths, then saving and moving objects and re-saving; the file starts small but grows with each save. The larger the file size becomes, the more the file size grows, regardless of the artwork complexity.
The ONLY thing reduces the file size back to normal is saving in CS6 format.
Mark Nicoll
shared this idea
Please get in touch with us at any of the other support channels – https://helpx.adobe.com/support.html . Since this is not a generic issue that we can reproduce at our end, we will need someone to look into your machine to figure out what is going on here.
Warm Regards,
Ashutosh Chaturvedi | Sr. Quality Engineering Manager – Illustrator
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Mark Nicoll
commented
Maddy, the only other thing I know to try is to turn off PDF compatibility when saving, and if there are any high resolution raster images in your file, try removing those. You could also try the steps I listed above. For now, I've got round the issue by just simplifying my artwork and not having multiple artboards per file.
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Maddy
commented
I am also having this problem. I am a fashion student and I am making several garments spec drawings per week and need to have many open at a time. I blamed the large size on the clipping masks but even after flattening them all and opening files that only have a small amount of text and a few basic shapes, the files are still over 160MB. I cannot use the program as it is. It is slowing down my computer. It is taking around 4 minutes to save each file and I cannot share it with anyone over email, even after exporting it as a TIFF. I really do not knowhow to solve this.
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Mark Nicoll
commented
Hi Mohit, many thanks for the reply - unfortunately I can't share any of the files I'm currently having this problem with (NDA). Though I still can't find any particular reason for the file bloating, I have found a workaround which is to work off artboard and occasionally to transfer the content to a new file. The same content which which was previously in a 131MB file is currently 18MB, but it's growing with each save at a rate beyond what I'd expect for the complexity of the file.
Once things are less busy I'll see about replicating the problem in a another file which I can share.
Thanks,
Mark -
Mark Nicoll
commented
Here's something. I've got 2 hugely bloated files, one 70.5MB and the other 131.6MB. If I simply move the artwork off the artboards, those file sizes shrink to 33.8MB and 64.8MB respectively.
Oh, another weird thing is that those two files contain identical artwork in the same format, they've just been moved around and saved differently.
I'd expect the file size to be closer to 20MB... but I'll be needing artboards! Hmm.