Solving memory problems when making a PDF

Some people have encountered problems with Bloom running out of memory while making a PDF. Here are some suggestions for what to do if this happens to you:

  1. The core problem is that Bloom is not able to get enough memory (RAM) to decompress all the images into their original pixels. So the first thing to try is to give Bloom as much memory as you can. Try restarting Bloom. If that doesn’t work, try restarting the computer, then making the PDF before running any other software.

  2. Use a recent version of Bloom. We made major improvements related to this in Bloom 4.3. You may want to try a the most recent version to see if it prints better.

  3. Turn on the option “Use less memory (slower),” which you can find in the Options menu near the top left of the Publish tab.

    (Though the above method tries very hard to use less memory, it might not actually help.)

  4. If you’re using high-resolution images, you might have a lot more pixels than you need. The number of pixels, not the file size, is what causes the PDF-making system to run out of memory. To see what the DPI (dots per inch) is, hover the mouse over an image:

image

You only need 300 DPI for photographs. You can use something like FastStone Resizer to reduce all your images to the DPI you really need. If your images are a maximum of 5 inches across, for example, you can tell FastStone Resizer to resize all the images in the book to a width of 5 * 300dpi=1500 pixels.

  1. Is it feasible to use a computer with more memory (RAM) available? As a 32-bit application, Bloom’s PDF maker can only use 3.2 Gigs, but if you’re on a 2,3, or 4 Gig machine, Bloom might not even get that much. For a recent 180 page picture dictionary we helped with, using a computer with more RAM was enough to make the PDF.

If none of these help, please use Help:Report a problem and allow it to attach the book so that we can try to help.

The options menu mentioned above was renamed to “PDF Options” in Bloom 4.9, and the screenshot is out of date. But the relevant option for this topic is still present.