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BreakEven
BreakEven
Known Participant
Jul 8, 2026 8:20 PM UTC
Answered

Why is InDesign opening PDFs at multiple layouts?

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?

      nik.m
      nik.mCorrect answer
      Community Manager
      Jul 22, 2026 9:07 PM UTC

      Hi ​@BreakEven, sorry about the delay and thanks for your patience! 

      The product team has a bug logged for this already and they are working on a fix. 

      Please stay tuned and we will post an update on this conversation as soon as the fix is out.

       

      Thanks, 

      Nikunj  

      (Moderator notes: Marking this correct for better visibility.)

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      4 replies

      Anubhav M
      Community Manager
      Anubhav MCommunity Manager
      Community Manager
      Jul 8, 2026 9:41 PM UTC

      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

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      BreakEven
      BreakEvenAuthor
      Known Participant
      Jul 8, 2026 10:08 PM UTC

      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.

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      Abhishek Rao
      Community Manager
      Abhishek RaoCommunity Manager
      Community Manager
      Jul 17, 2026 7:36 PM UTC

      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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