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jomajupro
jomajupro
Participant
Mar 13, 2026 5:57 PM UTC
Answered

Rasterization of SVG on PDF export from InDesign

I placed an SVG of a bar chart into an Indesign file, and Indesign is rasterizing the SVG rather than keeping it as a vector. When I export a relatively low-quality PDF for web viewing, this makes the chart look awful. What’s worse, Id is even clipping some of the bottom pixels from its own rasterization. I want this graphic to be vector, because that’s the only way it’s going to look decent--why is that so hard? PDF works great with vector graphics, so it makes no sense to me that Id would rasterize this.

I made the SVG in Inkscape originally and further modified it in Illustrator. It is all paths and (outlined) text--no raster image anywhere in it. I have checked through my Export to PDF options for anything relevant, so I unchecked “Compress Text and Line Art” but that did nothing. Any advice much appreciated.

 

 

      Dave Creamer of IDEAS
      Dave Creamer of IDEASCorrect answer
      Community Expert
      Mar 16, 2026 2:18 PM UTC

      I opened your SVG file in Illustrator and re-saved it as SVG. Imported the new version into InDesign and exported to PDF, where it was still vector. 

      I suspect you had a bad write when saving the original SVG file. That said, if I have to open it in Illustrator anyway, I would save it as an .ai file.

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

      Abhishek Rao
      Community Manager
      Abhishek RaoCommunity Manager
      Community Manager
      Mar 16, 2026 1:16 PM UTC

      Hi ​@jomajupro,

       

      Just following up on this issue. Could you please share the requested details such as the InDesign version, OS version, and a screenshot of the PDF export settings window? 

      It would also be helpful if you could try the suggestion shared by the expert and check whether the rasterization happens only when gradients are present in the SVG or if it occurs with all SVG graphics.

      I tested a similar export on InDesign 21.2 on Windows 11 and was not able to reproduce the behavior on my end. Having your sample INDD file and the exported PDF would help us reproduce the issue and investigate further.

      Please upload the files to a cloud service and share the link here. If the files are confidential, you can also share them with me via direct message on the community.

       

      Looking forward to your update.

      Abhishek

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      Dave Creamer of IDEAS
      Community Expert
      Dave Creamer of IDEASCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      Mar 14, 2026 12:19 AM UTC

      Does your SVG have gradients? 

      My tests exported as vector except the gradients--they were rasterized. 

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      David Creamer: Community Expert (ACI and ACE 1995-2023)
      BobLevine
      Community Expert
      BobLevineCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      Mar 13, 2026 7:14 PM UTC

      It the file is in Illustrator, save it as PDF and place that. I wouldn’t use SVG in anything other than a pure web project.

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        jomajupro
        jomajuproAuthor
        Participant
        Mar 16, 2026 1:21 PM UTC

        I had a hunch that an Adobe-native format might work better, too, so I tried placing the images as .ai files, and that worked just fine--exported as vectors on the first try.

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        Anubhav M
        Community Manager
        Anubhav MCommunity Manager
        Community Manager
        Mar 13, 2026 6:37 PM UTC

        Hello @jomajupro,

        I'm sorry to hear about your experience. Could you confirm the versions of the OS/InDesign installed, and share a sample INDD and exported file(s) and screenshots of the export settings used so we can better assist you?

        Looking forward to hearing from you.

        Anubhav

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        jomajupro
        jomajuproAuthor
        Participant
        Mar 16, 2026 1:28 PM UTC

        Yes. I’m on Windows 11 (though my other workstation, where I processed the data and made the SVGs, is Ubuntu). Indesign is 21.2 x64.

        Attached:

        • an Id file with an embedded vector SVG
        • a PDF exported from that file, which rasterized the vector, and
        • the SVG in question.
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        Dave Creamer of IDEAS
        Community Expert
        Dave Creamer of IDEASCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
        Community Expert
        Mar 16, 2026 2:18 PM UTC

        I opened your SVG file in Illustrator and re-saved it as SVG. Imported the new version into InDesign and exported to PDF, where it was still vector. 

        I suspect you had a bad write when saving the original SVG file. That said, if I have to open it in Illustrator anyway, I would save it as an .ai file.

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