Question

PDF to InDesign Fails

Forum|Forum|4 months ago
January 7, 2026
5 replies
250 views

Adobe just introduced, albeit in beta, PDF to InDesign in 2026. I just tried opening a PDF and it failed with no real reason. The joke here is that I was able top open and fully edit the PDF in Affinity by Canva. What gives?

Adobe can;t even open their own format!

Abhishek Rao

Community Manager

Hi @irioschallenge and @maryl91873679,

I understand how frustrating this has been, and I really appreciate you both sticking with the discussion and sharing your experiences.

Adding to the suggestions already shared by our esteemed community experts, please make sure you're both using the latest InDesign 21.1. The PDF to InDesign feature can behave differently depending on how the PDF was created and its internal structure, which is why some PDFs may open successfully while others don't. This official Adobe article explains the supported workflow and current limitations and is the best reference to understand the expected behavior:
https://adobe.ly/49MleeQ (make sure to go through the 'Points ot note' and 'Limitations' section)

If the issue continues after updating, please let me know whether this happens with all PDFs or only specific ones, and which application originally created those PDFs. If possible, you can also share a sample PDF that shows the issue, and if it's confidential, feel free to send it via DM.

Looking forward to your update from both of you.

Abhishek

maryl91873679

Participant

I followed exact path - i download affinity publisher - and bam, they upgrade on what i just learned! I hate canva, so i'm reluctant to change exclusively - i've used adobe for 25 years. I'm too old for this pile of poop. ASK ME HOW I REALLY FEEL! (i'll be 65 next month!) and no, i don't need to change to learn a new system. The first place I worked, used a linotype - so i've seen my fair share of change. I pay for 2 seats monthly i EXPECT IT TO WORK.

ADOBE THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE - PLEASE RESOLVE THE EXPORT TO PDF FROM INDESIGN NOW!

I've struggled for 2 months. IDMARKZ. TO CONVERT an entire library of 6,000 products to idml. So i can learn canva/infinit?

The keystrokes are muscle memory. PLEASE RESOLVE!

i think you can see previous posts by my community name? i have samples., theories, etc.....

I'm sooooo pissssssed.

BobLevine

Community Expert

The topic here is opening a PDF in InDesign not exporting to PDF and for whatever it may be worth, I'm older than you and been using this software longer than you have.

Please start a new discussion if you're having issues but please search first. Others have report PDF export issues.