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Large file size when exporting as a PDF - InDesign 2026

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InDesign 2026, exporting to a small PDF file doesn't work!!!! The PDF is way too large.

Anubhav MCorrect answer

Community Manager

Hello everyone,

Please try the suggestions shared by our experts:

Uncheck the option “Preserve InDesign editing capabilities.”
Avoid embedding any images in your InDesign document.

Let us know if this resolves the issue.

Anubhav

B

balanced_member4b94

Participant

I had the same problem. And then I followed this advice:

Uncheck the option “Preserve InDesign editing capabilities.”

While exporting, on General page and options!
and that helped. Thank you. I use the absolute latest version of InDesign.

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I

ioannis_7672

Participant

I too am having the exact same problem. All the files I export are too big compared to the last Indesign version!

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Tiny Rhino

Participant

I’m having this same issue. I’m trying to export a resume file that should be very small. It’s a single page with no imagery and it's exporting at 74 kb. The same file exported with inddd 2025 exported at more than half the file size. Now I can’t apply to jobs because the file size is too big to upload! grrrr.

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Mike Witherell

Community Expert

74 kb is quite small. What really is the problem?

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Mike Witherell

V

VincentOBrien

Participating Frequently

Unchecking the box for editable file makes no difference. I have a brochure currently sitting at 724mb with no embedded images. Unchecked the box and it's still over 700mb. What is going on adobe !

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leo.r

Community Expert

And what’s the PDF size of this brochure when exported from InDesign 2025?

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Carefree_Glimpse6749

Participant

Hello everyone,

I believe the problem is the last page of the PDF. If you edit the PDF and delete the last page, the file size will be greatly reduced.

I have an InDesign file with several images. The last artboard is identical to the first (design, text, etc.) and the size difference between them is enormous.

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Anubhav M

Correct answer

Community Manager

Hello everyone,

Please try the suggestions shared by our experts:

Uncheck the option “Preserve InDesign editing capabilities.”
Avoid embedding any images in your InDesign document.

Let us know if this resolves the issue.

Anubhav

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ssam333

Participant

Hi, in the latest version of indesign, I dony find that option, everything gets saved massive, whats the solution?

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leo.r

Community Expert

Can you please elaborate - do you mean that you don’t see this option in your PDF export dialog?

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reagan_0580

Participant

Also having this issue with both my preset and the default "smallest file size". PDFs of the exact same file exported on 2025 were 5-7MB and are now 48-50MB ex[orting with 2026 Indesign.... not ideal going to have to remove 2026 and redownload 2025 if possible to meet deadlines.....

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sunetn23296824

Participant

Hi,

Quick fix that I discovered but not a solution is you have to unceck : "Perserve Indesign editing capabilities" then the files are the normal size.

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BobLevine

Community Expert

That is actually the solution. By maintaining InDesign edition capabilities, you are adding a tremendous amount of data to the file.

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jamesb25822464

Participating Frequently

You also can't copy and paste from 2025 to 2026 without it making it in to some sort of eps? WHY?

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jamesb25822464

Participating Frequently

Sorry, that's either way (2025-2026 & 2026-2025)

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Mike Witherell

Community Expert

Hi James,

Your comment appears to be a different matter relative to this post. May I suggest you start a new post and describe your challenge with more detail?

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Mike Witherell

J

jamesb25822464

Participating Frequently

I’m experiencing the same issue and have reverted back to the 2025 version until it’s resolved. It’s impossible to run a professional business on software that isn’t consistent. This problem seems to be happening more frequently, likely because the Adobe suite is being updated almost daily. I miss the days when we had properly tested disc or download releases that were updated annually, rather than rushed updates pushed out for the smallest changes.

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