Why is InDesign opening PDFs at multiple layouts?

Forum|Forum|11 days ago
July 8, 2026
1 reply
26 views

I’ve tried using the “open a PDF in InDesign” feature, but every time it puts each page into a separate alternative layout. This makes opening multi-page PDFs kind of worthless. Is there a fix for this?

Anubhav M

Community Manager

Hello @BreakEven

I’m sorry to hear about your experience. Would you mind sharing more details, like the version of the OS/InDesign installed, if this happens with a specific file, and if yes, sharing a sample file along with screenshots of the problem, so we can better assist you?

Looking forward to hearing from you.
Anubhav

BreakEvenAuthor

Participating Frequently

I’m in InDesign 21.4.1 on a Macbook Pro running Tahoe 26.5.1. Attached are a couple of screenshots of PDFs I’ve opened with each page in separate alternate layout. It’s happening with every multi-page PDF I try to open in InDesign.

Abhishek Rao

Community Manager

Hi @BreakEven,

Thanks for sharing the additional details and screenshots.

I was able to reproduce the same behavior on my end in InDesign 21.4.1, where each page of a multi-page PDF is imported as a separate Alternate Layout. I'm currently checking this further with our Product Team to determine whether this is an expected behavior or a regression.

I'll keep you posted as soon as I have an update. Thank you for your patience!

Abhishek

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