Applications on Mac remain active in background

Applications that run on Mac function differently than other operating systems. On a Mac, applications are not completely quit when the window is closed. Instead the applications main window (or frame) is closed but the application is still running in the background. Since the application is still running, there may be times where you find your system running slower or issues with some applications as the system memory is put under more load. This is especially the case on Retina Displays as the increased amount of pixels on the screen requires more memory to be used to make the extra details needed for the increased pixel count.

PDF Studio has been designed to work using the same standards as other Mac applications and will keep the application running in the background when the window is closed. In addition, PDF Studio is only allocated with 768Mb of memory to prevent it from using too much on older systems. If you are seeing slower navigation or a message saying “Error Loading PDF Heap Space” it is most likely the result of too much memory being used.

Below are some “Best Practices” to avoid memory issues in PDF Studio:

1. “Quit” application regularly (Recommended)

When working for long periods of time make sure to quit the app regularly and not only close the window. Especially if you are working with a lot of documents or working with Batches. “Quitting” the application also frees up the memory used by the app so that it can be reclaimed by your other apps running on the system.

  • Go to PDF Studio -> Quit PDF Studio on the menu bar to completely quit the application
  • Right Click (Ctrl + Click) PDF Studio icon on the dock and select “Quit” to completely quit the application

2. Close frames as you go

You can also minimize the amount of memory being used by PDF Studio by closing PDFs / Frames (windows) as you go. Each window that is open uses additional memory and if you have documents still open that you are no longer viewing it can still be using up your memory. Only keep PDFs / Frames open for documents that you are actively working with.

3. Increase memory allocated to PDF Studio

If you find that you are still running into possibly memory issues in PDF Studio and the above solution did not help you can try following our instructions on how to Allocate more memory to PDF Studio.

NOTE: Increasing the allocated memory will only work if you have enough memory available. Otherwise, your machine will start memory swapping and become unresponsive.