Problem in Indesign with converting text to outlines.

Forum|Forum|1 year ago
April 2, 2025
4 replies
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Problem in Indesign with converting text to outlines.
If I convert the text to outlines, a copy remains with the original text. If you view the pdf in acrobat, you will see that the letters are also bolder. If you then edit the file, you will indeed see 2 layers with texts. Is this a bug?

Bug

Correct answer Laubender

Hi @Wim_Rene ,

thanks for your screenshot.

I suspect that the text frame contains a table object.

In that case InDesign will indeed do a duplicate to convert text to outlines when the text frame is selected.

That behavior is not new.

Regards,
Uwe Laubender
( Adobe Community Expert )

Abhishek Rao

Community Manager

Hi @Wim_Rene,

I tested this on my end, and everything works as expected. I’m not seeing a duplicate text frame after converting to outlines. As Dave suggested, could you check if the extra copy was already in the file before converting?

Could you try testing this in a newly created file and see if the issue still occurs? That way, we can confirm if it’s specific to the file you’re working on. Let me know the observations.

^

Abhishek

W

Wim_ReneAuthor

Participant

I did some tests.

In my current file there is no copy behind the text box. That only comes when I convert text to outlines.

When I create a new text box and convert it to outlines there is no copy.

The file was created a few years ago in a previous version of Indesign and is adjusted every year and has therefore undergone several updates of Indesign.

Willi Adelberger

Community Expert

The problem is not that the file was created in an older file. This can be healed via the IDML path.

The problem is that you have outlined the text. This is a terrible wrong workflow and should never be done.

Willi Adelberger

Community Expert

You should not convert text in InDesign to outlines. Many more problems appear. If you need outlines, do it in Acrobat > Print Production > Preflight, but never in InDesign.

Dave Creamer of IDEAS

Community Expert

As I said...

David Creamer: Community Expert (ACI and ACE 1995-2023)

Dave Creamer of IDEAS

Community Expert

Are you sure the extra copy is not already in the file, perhaps directly on top of the other? I suspect someone make a copy of the text layer to have an editable version just in case. That's the only way layers would show up in Acrobat.

Regarding the bolder text... Make sure your Smooth Line Art preference is on in Acrobat.

Finally, you shouldn't be converting to outlines in InDesign. You will lose certain typographic features. It should be done in Acrobat Pro after you make the PDF. That also leaves your InDesign file intact for future edits. (I won't get into whether you should outline text or not...)

David Creamer: Community Expert (ACI and ACE 1995-2023)