PDF won't charge when importing to InDesign, Bug?

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HELLO,

I have a rather big PDF 7 726KB, an architectural drawing, that I want to import to InDesgin so far without success. InDesign doesn't give me any error, but simply won't load it. I have tried to load other similar sized PDF with success however.

Thanks!

2025_STACKED_TEST2_TITLES_compressed_in_adobe_acrobat.pdf

A

ainolgaAuthor

Participant

Thank you all for your help and precious time!

It seems to me that my crazy PDF is the partypooper.

I'll be reworking these insane drawings with endless amounts of lines. Can't wait!

Thank you once more!!

Kindly,

Aino

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Brad @ Roaring Mouse

Community Expert

I've been able to successfully place the file in ID, but it does take a long time.

On examining the PDF, there are over 600,000 paths in the file. Although there's technically no limit to how many paths can be in a file (e.g Illustrator), it is definitely slowing things down, since for ID to give you a screen preview, it has to render all 600,000+ of them. (If you open this file in Illustrator, you will see how complex some of the areas are; there are hundreds of objects unnecessarily on top of each other)

A couple of things you might consider:

1. export the File as Encapsulated Ppstscript from Acrobat, making sure turn on the Include Preview option. Your file does need anything beyong the limits of EPS, so this is a safe alternative. Then, when you place the file, make sure your Import Options are set to Use TIFF Preview, which will load/place much faster, otherwise ID will attempt to again render the file's multitude of paths, means you're no firther ahead.

2. You might consider rendering the PDF into a high-resolution image format, like 600ppi TIFF. The sheer complexity of this file will do you no favours for anyone.

Also: you might want to go back to the CAD program and see if there's anyway to simplify your drawings.

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James Gifford—NitroPress

Legend

Not sure how much experience you have with CAD and modeling software at a technical level, but they are not just fancy, precise graphics apps. They are mathematical modeling software with huge database aspects that can, almost as an aside, generate visual representations of the gear, house, jet engine or skyscraper.

As such, the drawings are constructed in very deep, complex ways that don't have a lot to do with what you see or the part you eventually hold. (A full plan of a house, for example, uses a database that can be sifted to generate a BOM telling you how many 2x4s, 2x6s, rolls of roofing paper and 30-inch interior doors you need to build it.)

So conversion to PDF is usually left to third-party apps, ones that handle conversion to PDF and JPEG imaging, create libraries for the non-CAD staff, archive work sets, etc. Bluebeam is the most common. Like all second-source PDF creator/viewer/editors, this class has all its own rules and demands, and generating enormous, overstuffed drawings with 10-100X too many entities is just routine. They just dump the CAD data to PS data and move on, with no reduction or sorting or efficiency involved, and no one who works in AutoCAD or SolidWorks or Revit thinks anything of 1GB PDFs.

(I've worked with too many employers and clients at this interface, if you can't tell.)

Sometimes the PDF app does have a "small file" or "simple" or "for those dummies up on the exec floor" mode, but everyday users rarely select that option. So the only solution for the OP, here, and others who run into this industry peculiarity is to go see if the platform has such a mode, and re-export to it. (More likely, beg one of the ghods with a 24" input tablet to perform this lowbie boon for them.) 😛

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James Gifford—NitroPress

Legend

The PDF management tools used in CAD environments, especially the popular Bluebeam, make absolutely lousy PDFs. They are just barely useful for client proofing, printing simplified views etc. Any attempt to re-use or import them usually leads to dismal results.

I'm not even sure 'reprocessing' them through Acrobat does enough cleanup in most cases.

I haven't encountered any good, universal solutions for this problem.

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leo.r

Community Expert

All I know is that something indeed appears to be wrong with this PDF.

First, I wasn't able to place it in InDesign: once I release the place gun, it invokes an endless beachball, and eventually I have to force-quit InDesign.

Second, when I tried to Save As from Acrobat, it gave me this error after saving the file:

There is an error on this page; Acrobat may not display it correctly. Please contact the person who created the PDF document to resolve the issue.

The new resaved document is only partially displayed in Acrobat.

InDesign 2025; macOS 13.7

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