Two Problems

Thanks. That makes some sense. I think there's at least one copy that comes in 14 volumes.

FWIW, the fact that it is searchable quickly in Monterey seems to indicate something is up local to your Mac. As I mentioned, I have no problem searching with Preview in Ventura. I wish I knew what the issue might be.

I don't sue any of the usual suspects. I've noticed that you haven't rebooted in 8 days. It's wise to reboot frequently (I shut down at night and reboot in the morning) and with a SSD boot drive it should take much more than 30 seconds. That will clear our temporary system and application case and swap files. It helps performance.

Give this a try: boot into Safe Mode according to How to use safe mode on your Mac and test to see if the problem persists. Reboot normally and test again.

NOTE 1: Safe Mode boot can take up to 3 - 5 minutes as it's doing the following; 

• Verifies your startup disk and attempts to repair directory issues, if needed

• Loads only required kernel extensions (prevents 3rd party kernel/extensions from loading)

• Prevents Startup Items and Login Items from opening automatically

• Disables user-installed fonts 

• Deletes font caches, kernel cache, and other system cache files

NOTE 2: if you have a wireless keyboard with rechargeable batteries connect it with its charging cable before booting into Safe Mode. This makes it act as a wired keyboard as will insure a successful boot into Safe Mode.

Then make it a routine to reboot more often.

Allan Dibiase wrote:

Thanks. The 2015 was just a test run using Preview on the same search on an older system and it worked fine. I want to do this search on a Mac mini M1 running updated Ventura, on a fast internet connection. Does not work.

You're welcome. I'm not sure what your internet connection has to do with anything.

In Photos....more a complaint about the "updated" cropping tool. It is not an improvement over Monterey. And after using it the adjustments are not always saved.

As far as the changes in Photos, feel free to send Apple feedback. Feedback - macOS - Apple

You might want to test the document on your Desktop while in Safe Mode.

How to use safe mode on your Mac - Apple Support

I have to ask, a 7,000 page PDF is the equivalent of about 23 books of average length. What is in this PDF?

1. FWIW, I don't have anything close to a 7,000 page PDF but checking a few 100+ page PDFs, Preview is actually faster on Ventura (not by much), than Monterey. I suspect that's just because I'm running Ventura on an iMac Pro vs a 2015 5k iMac. Both were nearly instant.
2. Not sure what you are seeing in Photos.

Download and run Etrecheck.  Copy and paste the results into your reply. Etrecheck is a diagnostic tool that was developed by one of the most respected users here in the ASC and recommended by Apple Support  to provide a snapshot of the system and help identify the more obvious culprits that can adversely affect a Mac's performance.

Copy the report

and use the Additional Text button to paste the report in your reply.

Then we can evaluate the report to see if we can determine the cause of the problem.

I had to edit my last post, pasted the wrong link. 😎