Viewing large PDF files in 'Preview' impossible (lag/freeze)

[0387274]

The title says it all. It is virtually impossible to view any large PDF files with Preview in Yosemite (early 2014 11" MacBook Air, base model). After every page scroll, the app freezes and gives me the spinning rainbow wheel for about 30 seconds, and then scrolls down like crazy, like it was spring loaded or something. And the scrolling is VERY laggy!

Didn't have this problem in Mavericks. Anyone who can relate?

 

[MrDuric]

Same here, I use my rMBP 13 inch late 2013 a lot for PDF editing; the lag becomes especially unbearable if I open multiple PDFs. I have other UI lag issues with Yosemite too, thinking about downgrading :/

 

[0387274]

This is really the only issue I'm having with Yosemite. Apart from that bug I think it's awesome. I really hope downgrading isn't the only solution...

 

[awests]

I've had no issues with my MBP and scrolling issues with large .pdf files (1000+ pages)

 

[asereht32]

I have the same problem right now too with large PDFs. The reason I'm actually on here is because I was waiting for the spinning rainbow thing to stop on preview. I didn't realize Yosemite could be the issue, but I didn't have this problem until after upgrading to Yosemite. I'm even experiencing a lag/freeze with Mail too. Preview has been so bad to the point where I needed to force quit it a couple times.

 

[Boris A]

I do have this issue, especially with PDFs that are scans of book pages. This was never a problem before Yosemite on a 2010 MBP.

 

[ijha]

I've had no issues with my MBP and scrolling issues with large .pdf files (1000+ pages)

It's not about the number of the pages. it is about the real size of the pdf file. A file with over 1000 pages can be 5MB. In this case, it does not cause any problem at all. I once opened a 80MB pdf file and the Preview was very very sluggish. Hopefully, the fix will come shortly.

 

[awests]

It's not about the number of the pages. it is about the real size of the pdf file. A file with over 1000 pages can be 5MB. In this case, it does not cause any problem at all. I once opened a 80MB pdf file and the Preview was very very sluggish. Hopefully, the fix will come shortly.

I guess I should add the 1,000 page file (It's actually 1397 pages) I was talking about is also 164.9 MB.

 

[unobtainium]

The title says it all. It is virtually impossible to view any large PDF files with Preview in Yosemite (early 2014 11" MacBook Air, base model). After every page scroll, the app freezes and gives me the spinning rainbow wheel for about 30 seconds, and then scrolls down like crazy, like it was spring loaded or something. And the scrolling is VERY laggy!

Didn't have this problem in Mavericks. Anyone who can relate?

Yep. And when my MBP starts slowing down because of Preview, it extends to the rest of the system too. Even if I quit preview the lagginess continues until I restart my Mac. This is my biggest complaint with Yosemite by far. It's worse than the Wi-fi quirks for me.

 

[Tiaraju]

Yep. And when my MBP starts slowing down because of Preview, it extends to the rest of the system too. Even if I quit preview the lagginess continues until I restart my Mac. This is my biggest complaint with Yosemite by far. It's worse than the Wi-fi quirks for me.

Other day I was working on a very lightweight pdf file (1.2mb) with a lot of pages (300+) and I experienced Preview slowing down the whole system to the point that it was unusable. Quitting Preview doesn't solve it, you have to restart the whole operational system. Crazy, right?

This only happened that one time, though. I was doing some heavy word search on this pdf (making a Index for a book), which I never do.

Maybe the problem is triggered by using the search heavily? Do you see this pattern?

 

[0387274]

About to downgrade now. Reader had the exact same problem. I need to read a 200-page PDF for my school project, which is not currently possible with Yosemite.

Too bad - I really liked the new design and Continuity features...

 

[Tiaraju]

About to downgrade now. Reader had the exact same problem. I need to read a 200-page PDF for my school project, which is not currently possible with Yosemite.

Too bad - I really liked the new design and Continuity features...

In this case, why don't you use a third party application like Adobe?

 

[0387274]

In this case, why don't you use a third party application like Adobe?

Read my post more carefully. I experienced the exact same problem with Adobe Reader, which is quite odd. That thing even has a different PDF engine.

 

[unobtainium]

Other day I was working on a very lightweight pdf file (1.2mb) with a lot of pages (300+) and I experienced Preview slowing down the whole system to the point that it was unusable. Quitting Preview doesn't solve it, you have to restart the whole operational system. Crazy, right?

This only happened that one time, though. I was doing some heavy word search on this pdf (making a Index for a book), which I never do.

Maybe the problem is triggered by using the search heavily? Do you see this pattern?

I definitely think it could be related to searching within PDFs because I do that a lot. But that never used to be a problem with Mavericks. I might need to install Windows 8 in bootcamp or something so I can actually get work done. Crazy.