Why do pdf's in InDesign get saved so big?

Forum|Forum|8 hours ago
May 7, 2026
2 replies
16 views

Every time I export A InDesign file as PDF it gets saved massive like 40-80 MB, Some people suggested to Uncheck “Preserve InDesign editing capabilities”, but I cant find this in the latest version (Dont know about older versions)???

Mike Witherell

Community Expert

You will see this switch in the Export to Adobe PDF (Print) dialog box as well as the Export to Adobe PDF (Interactive) dialog box.

Mike Witherell

leo.r

Community Expert

As already mentioned in this thread, please post a screenshot of your PDF export settings window:

And what’s your exact InDesign version? If you don’t see this option, then it’s unlikely that you’re using InDesign 2026.

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