Participant

Question

Image problem

Forum|Forum|7 months ago
August 24, 2025
3 replies
263 views

Not a huge deal and its fixed by relinking. But, I have never had problems with images and now its occuring on two different jobs and two different computers (I think, lol). Images are jpeg. Keeps recurring even though I am relinking each time it happens which is pretty much every day. Image size is approximately same size of box, so there is very little sizing. Using Command-D to insert image. Wondering if maybe has something to do with me transferring the files between the two computers on a flash drive. I transfer the entire job folder so thinking it shouldn't be a problem with location names. One computer is iMac circa 2017 (Ventura OS) and the other a late model Mini with Sequoia so maybe thats the source of the issue.

Bug

leo.r

Community Expert

I wonder if it's the same issue:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/indesign-discussions/windows-and-mac-grey-lines-and-discoloration-appear-on-imported-jpegs-in-indesign/m-p/15194597#M614462

Brad @ Roaring Mouse

Community Expert

If your images are stored anywhere else than your local drive, this is indicative of the "Full Disk Access" issue. Check your Mac's System Preferences > Security & Privacy > Full Disk Access, and make sure all your Adobe apps are listed there.

E

Eugene Tyson

Community Expert

Looking at the screenshot, it seems like the JPEG preview may be corrupted, which can cause InDesign to have trouble interpreting the file.

Can I ask how the image was originally created or saved? Sometimes files exported from certain apps or devices don’t play nicely with InDesign.

As a test, try opening the image in Photoshop (or another editor) and resaving it as a new JPEG, then relink to that version in InDesign. If the problem goes away, that would confirm it was an issue with how the original file was saved.

charlesk97504850Author

Participant

I don't know as they were provided by others. They are FPO so probably replacement will be higher quality.

E

Eugene Tyson

Community Expert

Not all JPEGs are created equal. While they all share the .jpeg or .jpg file extension, the way they're encoded can vary significantly. Some software, especially third-party programs or those optimised for web use, might save JPEGs with a specific compression or encoding that InDesign's preview engine doesn't recognise. InDesign is very particular about the file formats and encodings it supports, and if a file deviates from that standard, it may not be able to generate a proper preview.

The file itself isn't actually corrupted; it's just that InDesign's preview engine can't interpret the data correctly. The high-resolution image data for printing is still there, but the low-resolution preview file is what's failing.

How to Fix It
To fix the issue, you should resave the JPEGs in a more universally compliant format. The best way to do this is to open the files in a professional image editing program like Adobe Photoshop and then save them again. This process re-encodes the image data in a way that is fully compatible with InDesign's standards.

A good workflow would be:

Open the problematic JPEG in Photoshop.

Go to File > Save As... or File > Export > Save for Web (Legacy).

Choose JPEG as the format.

Ensure the settings are standard (e.g., progressive scan, standard compression).

Save the new file with a different name to distinguish it from the original.

Place the newly saved JPEG into your InDesign document.

This simple act of resaving and re-encoding the file will almost always resolve the preview issue.

Personally - I'd resave as TIF or PSD if possible - as resaving as JPEG does technically lose data as it's a lossy format

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