Affinity Pub is lagging. A lot.

[JenTH]

I am laying out long documents (novels of 300 + pages) and there is a consistent 5-10 second lag.

This is not my first rodeo; I've used other print design software (on this same machine) and not had this sort of lag time. CPU usage is consistently over 65% and all with Publisher. I just can't afford this sort of time wasted... any ideas?

Thank you.

[lacerto]

(...)

[JenTH]

Thanks for the reply. I was afraid it likely might be a program problem. :(

[Lee D]

@JenTH Is your document just text or a combination of text, images and other objects? If you have images are these linked or embedded? How large is your .afpub file and what is the spec of your system?

[JenTH]

Hullo, Lee,

Thanks for responding. It is a fiction book, all text with a few linked images. Size of .afpub file is 35,646 kb.

System is HP Pavilion x360, 8 gb, running Windows 10, 64 bit.

Some days are worse than others, granted. But the bad days are bad indeed.

Cheers,

Jen

[Blende21]

If possible I would upgrade the RAM to at least 16GB, better 32GB. Working with a publishing Program is not editing text, it carries a lot of overhead. 8GB may be o.k. for office use, for anything more advanced it is pretty small.

The other aspect is the disk you are using: SSD ? Internal / system drive, internal additional or external ? Or a HDD ? The x360 seems to have a small SSD plus a larger HDD - if your data is on the HDD, and needs to swap it to RAM and back, lagging is to be expected. It seems to have a relatively good USB-C port, maybe you could use an external SSD there for your data.

 

[JenTH]

@Blende21I am looking into getting a machine with larger RAM, though for now I'm still having to deal with what I have.

Though I'm a novice to AfPub, I have been running--and heavily using--InDesign since before I bought the HP x360, with no like issues. Of course, being in literal hock to Adobe has other massive frustrations...

I do hope that Affinity will be able in the future to make larger texts less unwieldy. Pretty brochures are, well, pretty--but for my use, it's all about handling the massive tomes.

[Blende21]

From the specs the x360 has upgradable RAM. I do not know whether this can be added later, or only on purchase. If RAM can be replaced, this would be my first choice. It is not that expensive, and usually easy to replace. Just make sure you get exactly the right specs.

For the data, on a fast Port an external SSD should outperform any internal (and external) HDD. With my MacBook Pro, a SanDisk Extreme SSD runs more than 3 times as fast as a WD myPassport HDD. This is very noticeable. If an internal switch is not possible, an external SSD may help.

[worlok]

I'm having extreme lag and my machine has 16gb ram with an SSD and an 8th gen i7 and dual graphics cards one being an nvidia so this shouldn't lag like this.

It's a program defect.

Earlier version on an old macbook worked fine for me without any lag.

I am not getting a lot of CPU usage either and the ram usage is not off the charts so IDK what is causing the lag.

 

 

 

[JenTH]

I upgraded my RAM (it needed it anyway) but yes, Publisher still lags. And loses fonts at random.

That Other Program didn't lag like this, and Affinity is a better option, considering the Other's constant and neverending financial drain. Still, right now Affinity is a big TIME drain.

I do hope they address this soon. Hard to do publishing work when the program can't handle a document over 50 pages!