Friday, April 27, 2007

InDesign CS3 backspace bug fix

If you are using InDesign CS3, you should be aware of this: InDesign CS3 will crash if you: a) have the Info panel displayed, b) are editing text in a story of more than 500 characters, and c) backspace quickly to delete a bunch of text characters.

Adobe has promised to fix this in a future patch, but in the meantime, the workaround is simple: close the Info panel when you don't need it.

The story behind this bug is kind of interesting:

Yesterday InDesign CS3 crashed repeatedly every time that I backspaced quickly to delete text in a lengthy file I spent all day editing. Each time that it crashed, I obediently submitted a description of the problem using the Adobe Crash Reporter.

Much to my delight, I received an email today from Adobe thanking me for submitting the reports, and informing me that after looking into it, they discovered the cause of the crash. They advised me to close the Info panel, and promised to fix the bug in a future dot release.

This is quite a nasty bug, but closing the Info palette DOES work around the problem. I was absolutely floored and amazed by the quick, personal reply to my crash reports. This prompt, customer-facing attitude is one reason why Adobe is successful.



10 comments:

  1. Well they have never given me the time of day. With over 1000 crash logs from Indesign. Seriously unimpressed seeing as they charged me double for a UK copy! Thanks for nothing adobe! Back to CS2..... With no refund for a faulty product! Only a software company can do this.........

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  2. Just like to say thanks for this info, It started happening to me tonight for the first time, and with an essay due tomorrow I was close to a breakdown after the 4th crash in 10 minutes! hahaha.

    But thanks again mate!

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  3. It's September 26 and still no fix for this. Almost 6 months since the release and Adobe has yet to release a patch for InDesign CS3. This is completely insane!

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  4. Thanks a lot! That fixed my problem. I wish Adobe would get their stuff together and ACTUALLY fix it.

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  5. Adobe released the InDesign 5.0.1 update today which claims to fix this problem.

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  6. What an elegant fix to a problem that I keep submitting crash reports for. Thanks much and I hope Adobe responds a bit sooner to others with the problem.

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  7. Please help. Since yesterday, I have been experiencing problem with InDesign CS3. After opening a file, it seems that the cursor is locked to the Hand Tool. I tried clicking the other tools but it would not change.
    I cannot do anything. Please help.

    Jonathan

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  8. Jonathan, try deleting your InDesign Preferences file. (See the 7-12-2007 entry on this blog).

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  9. even with the 5.02 update, InDesign CS3 freezes continually .. but i discovered that if an image is opened in Photoshop first, then minimised to the task bar (or wherever that may be on a Mac) .. then InDesign opened, it runs crash and freeze free.

    hallelujah ..

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  10. Thanks so much for the info! That fixed the problem. I've been trying to figure out what goofy keystrokes I had accidentally made to cause that and what to do to undo! Good to know it wasn't my crazy fingers this time!

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