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alisonl0shi
alisonl0shi
Known Participant
Oct 7, 2019 4:49 PM UTC
Answered

Resizing a document, getting "object is locked" message

Hi there ...

 

I am trying to resize a 24 page document just a little bit smaller. I'm using the current Indesign CC. There is one master page with not much on it.

 

Anyway, when I try to resize the layout in Document Setup, it keeps failing because of an error. And, it says "object is locked" and a page goes blank, but there are no objects locked on the spreads.

 

Any ideas? Thank you!

    37260714xa1pCorrect answer
    Participant
    Sep 4, 2025 8:26 PM UTC

    This was happening for me. Unhiding hidden slides was the culprit. 

    View reply

    12 replies

    37260714xa1pCorrect answer
    Participant
    Sep 4, 2025 8:26 PM UTC

    This was happening for me. Unhiding hidden slides was the culprit. 

    Translate
    Marketing_123
    Participant
    May 7, 2025 6:40 PM UTC

    This worked for me:

    Unlock All Layers:

    • In the Layers panel, click the menu (top-right corner) and choose Unlock All Layers to ensure no layers are preventing page additions.
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    beaubrewer
    Participant
    Nov 16, 2021 7:54 PM UTC

    I was able to resolve this issue by unlocking guides and column guides.

       • View > Grids & Guide: Unlock Guides

       • View > Grids & Guide: Unlock Column Guides

     

    I hope that someone will find this useful.  😃

    Translate
      Geоrge
      Geоrge
      Legend
      Oct 8, 2019 8:51 AM UTC

      >> I am trying to resize a 24 page document just a little bit smaller. 

      Do you have equal proportions of the new document? Next workaround - do as you have PDF then choose new need it paper size in  Adobe PDF print settings in Acrobat, print to Adobe PDF with "fit" and don't worry about it

       

       

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      Remember, never say you can't do something in InDesign, it's always just a question of finding the right workaround to get the job done. © David Blatner
      Geоrge
      Geоrge
      Legend
      Oct 8, 2019 8:43 AM UTC

      Try a workaround. 

      1. save indd to idml than open idml and save as new indd. Then try again

      2. move your pages to the new document, save try again

      3. If 1) and 2) not helps then save your document under new name and cut 50% of pages if after this all works - try to find a "bugged lock" on the second 50%, etc to time where you find exact bugged page. 

       

       

      And from other side - did you check you layers? Is all layers unlocked? Is on all spreads you do CTRL+A and then CTRL+ALT+L

      ?

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      Remember, never say you can't do something in InDesign, it's always just a question of finding the right workaround to get the job done. © David Blatner
      Derek Cross
      Community Expert
      Derek CrossCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      Oct 7, 2019 5:54 PM UTC

      Try selecting the Essentials workspace and select Adjust Layout and tick Auto-adjust margins and Adsjust Font Size.

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        alisonl0shi
        alisonl0shiAuthor
        Known Participant
        Oct 7, 2019 6:01 PM UTC

        Hi Derek, No, it doesn't work -- I just get a window that says "unable to adjust document layout because of an error."

         

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        alisonl0shi
        alisonl0shiAuthor
        Known Participant
        Oct 7, 2019 6:29 PM UTC
        And here's a new twist. I decided to simply create a new file, the right size, and cut and paste from the old file to the new, but it's substituting 12 pt Minion for 10.5 Bembo Regular.
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