Illustrator create tmp files because of Spotlight

Submitted by gosselin07 on Wed, 2005-06-22 20:50.

Member's Forum

Add the destination folder for the saved file to the Privacy tab in the Spotlight preferences.

To add the destination folder for the saved file to the Privacy tab in the Spotlight preferences:

Choose System Preferences from the Apple Menu.
Click Spotlight in the Personal section.
Click Privacy.
Click Add.
Select the destination folder for the saved file or files.
Click Choose.
Click the red button in the upper left to close the Spotlight preferences.

Background information

When Illustrator resaves an edited PDF file or AI file with PDF compatibility, it first writes a temporary file in the same folder as the original before it saves to the original. Illustrator then deletes the temporary file once the file is saved. When the temporary file closes, Spotlight indexes the new file. With larger files, the indexing can take awhile and Illustrator does not delete the temporary file, because the operating system believes it is open in Spotlight.

This had been bugging me.

Submitted by webdav on Wed, 2005-06-22 23:16.

This had been bugging me. Good tip, although I don't know if I'll use it because I don't necessarily want to add my client's folders to the Privacy feature.

Should Note

Submitted by jameskitty on Thu, 2005-06-23 01:07.

It may be good to note that this setting will keep Spotlight from indexing the files in that directory.

For example, if this is client work, and you are attempting to use spotlight to track work done for clients, this fix could be problematic to that end.

So there's no way around

Submitted by grafixforlife on Thu, 2005-06-23 01:08.

So there's no way around this? I've just noticed this and believe that this will be quite a waste of space after a while. If I want to get rid of the TMP files do I have to add all my design folders as Private?

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Fairly Useless Workaround

Submitted by Paul D on Thu, 2005-06-23 01:15.

Much of Spotlight's usefulness comes from indexing my client project directories, so this workaround is pointless for me—and, I suspect, for most other creative professionals.

What we really need is a less restrictive way of excluding files from Spotlight. Being able to exclude .tmp files would be nice for a start. Making Spotlight work faster might also be a help. Both of those are up to Apple, of course.