Layout freezes when trying to export to PDF

LayOut
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21

for the benefit of anybody in this situatuion…I have worked out a checklist of things that seem to help me when LayOut gets stuck.

LayOut 2022 has improved majorly on previous releases with respect to performance. I’ve just done a 40-page A3 booklet with 1400mb of SKP files referenced plus lots of JPGs and text…but Raster output is your friend here…and a fast CPU does help!!).

Here are a few things that I try when this happens:

  1. Check if your system resources are reporting that your CPU is still processing, or if it has stalled completely. If it’s still processing, and you are not on a deadline, then consider letting it run overnight - I’ve found that this often does work.
    While you’re at it, check if your system RAM is not depleted and any storage also has reasonable capacity. Note that PDF export creates an uncompressed version in memory before compressing it so it can use quite a bit of memory during the output operation.

  2. Export each page until you find an issue. If you find that one page is really slow, then look on that page for the following:

  • transparency (multiple layers of transparency and vector+transparency is difficult to compress into PDF format sometimes). This includes Shadows turned on with hybrid mode.
  • imported/referenced models, images and tables - are they linking to a network or other location which have to be retrieved? This includes items/geometry pasted from SketchUp itself. I find this issue can come up sometimes when you switch computers or users.
  • any hidden linework or objects, or overlapping linework in a view (ie your are looking at the top floor of a building but have all lower floors also turned on) Vector or hybrid mode doesn’t like trying to figure out how many edges are overlapping other edges below as it needs to decide which ones to render on top. It’s not as simple as rendering just the ones that you (the camera) can see on top.
  • strange fonts including non-European characters.

  1. Overly complex geometry (DaveR has described this well above). Anything over 500mb needs to be broken down into portions - ideally using SketchUp to split the file before sending it to LayOut.

  2. Very large imported images (sometimes logos can be PNG or TIF format which are surprisingly huge). As an example, Add Location aerial photos are now getting quite large and they can be a source of slowness in a model and LayOut file.

  3. Imported Geometry from AutoCAD or other software into your SKP model. If you’re able to identify that the SketchUp model is causing Layout to get stuck, then try opening sketchup and removing some of the complex geometry or imported items and trying again without those.

  4. Check your PDF output settings. Start by turning off “create PDF layers from LayOut layers” and adjusting the quality.

  5. Update your graphics drivers.

  6. Try a different computer - even if you post on these forums for somebody to help, or have a friend install SketchUp Pro as a trial just for testing the output - And it wouldnt hurt to Repair or Reinstall your SketchUp & Layout software. (Repair only takes a few minutes in Windows).