Allocate Ram to Illustrator

[mapinguy]

I just got a new computer with quad core 2.6ghz and 6 gigs of RAM. I'm running 64bit vista.

I work on large map files with thousands of text objects and generally speaking, I've not been satisfied with Illustrator's speed...and I think it's because Illy is not using even close to the available RAM. With nothing running, Windows will be using about 16% of system RAM. With photoshop (64bit) running, 80-90% of ram is being used. With Illustrator, only about 30%.

How can I allocate more RAM to Illustrator? Is it helpful to mess with the paging file? Any other suggestions to improve illustrator's speed would be helpful!

Thanks!

 

[spamjim]

There are many issues to look at here. The first issue might be to know what version of Illustrator is in use.

If an app was not designed for a 64-bit processor, it will be limited to the amount of RAM it uses.

You may also need to look into running Illustrator in XP compatibility mode if it is CS3 or earlier.

Killing off the Aero interface can also help.

 

[mapinguy]

I'm running CS4.

I already run AI in compatibility mode (XP service pack 2) because I found that made a big difference for the speed of tiff exports of big files.

I just set AI to automatically disable aero on start-up...but haven't noticed much difference.

When working with huge files (16,000 + text objects), I am often getting the "not enough RAM to complete operation warnings"...even though AI is only using a small% of the system RAM.

AI is not a 64 bit app...photoshop is. Is that why I can max out the RAM usage on photoshop and not AI? Are there any ways around this limitation?

I also set the paging file to be 6300 initial to 18000 max. Is this a good idea?