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Jenn BennGen
Participant
March 31, 2023
Answered

Alt text disappearing when PDFs are combined

  • March 31, 2023
  • 2 replies
  • 2181 views

I've discovered recently that after combining multiple PDFs in Adobe, alt tags that were previously in the PDFs are disappearing and are no longer there. They exist in the files when not combined. How do we combine files and keep alt tags? The alt tags are being added in InDesign and we're combining multiple PDFs after export. 

    Correct answer Jenn BennGen

    Hi, Bevi, 

     

    Our compositor discovered that when she was exporting files, she wasn't exporting it with tags and so those were disappearing. She's now exporting it with tags selected so they stick when the file is combined. Seems we solved this one, but thank you for your suggestions!

    2 replies

    Bevi Chagnon - PubCom.com
    Bevi Chagnon - PubCom.com
    Legend
    March 31, 2023

    Hi @Jenn BennGen,

    After combined, is it just the Alt Text that disappears? Or is it the tags themselves that disappear or get corrupted?

     

    Just to clarify and help, Alt Text is an attribute on a tag, usually on the <Figure> tag. It's not a standalone tag element in any technology, PDF, EPUB, or PDF.

     

    Can you gives us a small sample of one of these PDFs?

     

    |&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Bevi Chagnon &nbsp;&nbsp;|&nbsp;&nbsp;Designer, Trainer, &amp; Technologist for Accessible Documents ||&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;PubCom |&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Classes &amp; Books for Accessible InDesign, PDFs &amp; MS Office |
    J
    Jenn BennGenAuthorCorrect answer
    Participant
    March 31, 2023

    Hi, Bevi, 

     

    Our compositor discovered that when she was exporting files, she wasn't exporting it with tags and so those were disappearing. She's now exporting it with tags selected so they stick when the file is combined. Seems we solved this one, but thank you for your suggestions!

      Bevi Chagnon - PubCom.com
      Bevi Chagnon - PubCom.com
      Legend
      April 1, 2023

      Great to know it was solved!

       

      |&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Bevi Chagnon &nbsp;&nbsp;|&nbsp;&nbsp;Designer, Trainer, &amp; Technologist for Accessible Documents ||&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;PubCom |&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Classes &amp; Books for Accessible InDesign, PDFs &amp; MS Office |
      AkanchhaS8194121
      AkanchhaS8194121
      Legend
      March 31, 2023

      Hi @Jenn BennGen 

       

      Hope you are doing well.

      TO understand the issue better, we'd like to know a couple of things:

      1- How exactly the file was exported from an Indesign file to a PDF

      2- What is the current version of your Acrobat. Open Acrobat>help>about Acrobat 

      3- When combining files, what are the settings under Combine Files>Add files>Options

       

      Try combining another set of documents and see if that causes the same trouble. 

       

      Thanks,

      Akanchha 

      M
      mandy_0073
      Participant
      October 4, 2024

      I am having the same problem with the online version of Adobe Acrobat (used on 10-4-2024)

      M
      mandy_0073
      Participant
      October 4, 2024

      I combined multiple PDFs each of which had Alt tags, and the resulting merged PDF has no alt tags.

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