ArcGIS Pro 2.5 - Export Layout takes 20 Minutes

[Anonymous User]

Hello. Almost every time I export a layout in ArcGIS Pro 2.5, it takes 20 minutes. I tried turning on and off different layers, locking elements, exporting to my local drive, changing DPI, changing the file type, etc. I am not loading a lot of data. The "preparing to export" portion takes about 18 minutes and then the "export in progress" takes about 2 minutes. Is there a certain setting that I am missing? This did not happen with earlier versions of Pro. #arcgispro2.5 #export #slow #performance

[jve01]

Hello,

I was able to diagnose the issue for my particular problem. I was reusing a project file which over time accumulated numerous layouts which in turn increased the time to export the layout to a PDF. If you continue to run into the issue here is some python code that works:

import arcpy.mp as mp

# Get the current project
aprx = mp.ArcGISProject("CURRENT")

# Get a list of layouts in the project
layouts = aprx.listLayouts()

# Select the first layout in the list (you can modify this as needed)
layout = layouts[0]

# Set the output path and file name for the PDF file
output_path = r"C:\path\to\output\folder"
output_file = "output.pdf"

# Construct the full output file path
output_pdf = output_path + "\\" + output_file

# Export the selected layout to PDF format
layout.exportToPDF(output_pdf)

I hope this helps!

-J

[AaronBaumgarden]

Hello,

We just upgraded from 3.0 to 3.1.2 last week and started having this same issue; exporting layouts taking way longer than they should. After a few days of testing various strategies, we decided to create a brand-new Pro project and voila, any layout file will export in mere seconds like it used to. 

While Python seems to be a solution for many, this appears to be a version compatibility issue since the .aprx files were created in a prior version of Pro. This seems to align with all the reported problems in this post because nearly everyone says they just updated from version 2.x or 3.x, or patched, and started having issues exporting a layout.

Doesn't look to me like the file is being successfully upgraded to the latest version when it is saved for the first time. That, or some other bug is affecting the export process. Thoughts, Esri?

Thanks,

Aaron

[MatthewGeorge]

Looks like there's plenty of feedback here but just wanted to add to the list of users with this issue. We're running Pro v3.1.2 and experience extremely slow Export Layout times.

Workaround was to implement a Script Tool that replicates the functionality of the standard Export Layout GUI.

We initially thought it was because we were using Feature Services instead of direct connections to the databases or local data but looking at the info here it's not necessarily the case. We did find that it seems to be worse for established projects (had plenty of use) when compared to "fresh" projects OR read only versions of the established projects.

Has been raised with Esri Australia support.

[dragana118]

Same issue here, we have been using a couple of .aprx projects for a while, and the map export is taking longer and longer.. we cannot start a new project from scratch, because the existing ones involve a large number of data sources, plus it does not make sense if the same problem will appear again after a while.. 

[RoseF]

Same issue here. I am currently trying to export a layout view to PDF and it will stay in the Preparing to Export stage with no blue bar at the bottom for as long as I can stand it. I waited 45 minutes once before stopping it. This particular .aprx was created in 2.x, then used and saved in 3.x, then packaged for use in v2.x. Could version compatibility be causing this issue?

[AndrewHankinson]

Same issue here, only started today. 

[DougBrowning]

Same here sometimes a few mins but most times hours and hours before I give up.  This is using Export Map

[LeaPacnik]

Reviving this thread and also reporting that I have also had the same issue for quite some time now. Sometimes the export time will be very long (15 mins), other times with the same settings the export time is near instant. The progress bar always gets stuck at "preparing for export". When this happens I usually just kill the app and relaunch it. That usually fixes the problem for a few exports and after a while the problem crops up again...

[TamsenWaldron]

I am running a newer version of ArcGIS Pro and recently I have had this issue.  I know it has something to do with being linked to AGOL content.  I have tried all the above solutions, and nothing seems to work for me.  Any suggestions?  Thanks

[Arnaud_Leidgens]

I had the same issue. In my case, the map was initially created in AGOL and then modifed/exported from ArcGIS Pro. By testing different exportation settings, I understood that it was caused by one specific heavy layer (global dataset, WDPA). That layer was not stored in a GDB. However, I don't recall having this kind of problem with the same dataset in ArcGIS Pro or ArcMap before.