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ynwtf
Inspiring
May 18, 2022
Question

Export from InDesign, Half the Document Is missing Tag Structure

  • May 18, 2022
  • 2 replies
  • 964 views

So this is something new for me! I figure I'd start here in the Acrobat group before moving over to the InDesign, as users here seem to be more hip to the lingo.

 

Anyway. I've just exported an interactive PDF from a short 20-page InDesign layout. Content within IND is set up correctly for text, Heading tag associations within the paragraph style Export Tagging fields, alt text for imagery, etc., but upon export and review of the PDF only 5 articles tags were created of nearly 20 articles within the document. When I select a line of text to search the Tag Structure Tree to Find Tag from Selection, the selected content is not found.

 

I've combed through my IND layout checking the layers panel on the off chance text frames may have  been dropped into a template or background folder, I've checked the Object Export Properties on page content that is not showing in the Tag Tree, confirmed the same paragraph styles are in place, and I've exported to both interactive and print PDF options to the same results.

 

I'm honestly stumped as I've never seen this before! Has anyone experienced this? Both IND and Acrobat Pro are the latest updates.

 

Thanks in advance,

 

- noel.

2 replies

Mike Craghead
Mike Craghead
Participating Frequently
July 27, 2022

I was doing a pretty complex periodical in InDesign that always took forever to remediate in Acrobat, until I gradually chipped away at the template with each new edition, until it ended up taking only a couple minutes.

One item that I never skipped was dragging EVERYTHING into the articles panel (including artifacted objects). I can see how that can be considered a hassle, but since ID uses that when it tags, you get the added benefit of being able to see (and fiddle with) the reading order in a much simpler interface than dragging stuff around in the tags panel after the PDF is made.

 

Anything that isn't in ID's articles panel will need to be tagged manually in Acrobat, so it can really speed up remediation in the long run if you leverage that feature. 

 

Cheers!

Bevi Chagnon - PubCom.com
Bevi Chagnon - PubCom.com
Legend
July 27, 2022

Well, not quite. Let's clarify what the Articles panel does...and doesn't do.

 

First, you do not need to use the Articles panel to create a fully accessible PDF with correct reading and architectural/construction orders.

 

NOTES:

  • Reading Order = the order of the tagged content in the TAGS tree. Per the PDF/UA-1 standard, all accessibility (including tags, semantics, and reading order) should be available in the Tags Tree.

 

  • Architectural/construction Order = the now-called Order panel. This order is not referenced by the PDF/UA-1 standard, so, technically, can be ignored. However, in reality, it's a crucial reading order because many technologies use it and not the Tags Tree.

 

 

The Articles Panel is a half-baked tool in InDesign. It can be very helpful in some types of documents, and it can also royally f-up your PDF, too. It has some severe shortcomings and limitations, and it hasn't been improved by Adobe since it first appeared in CS 5.5 twelve years ago (2011).

 

Three critical settings if the Articles Panel is used:

  1. Each article's options must be set to Include When Exporting. Otherwise, the article's content won't be tagged in the PDF.
  2. The panel's options must be set to Use for Tagging Order in Tagged PDF.
  3. Once a single item is dragged to the Articles panel, it is now invoked and used to create the PDF's tag reading order. So that now means every  single element in the entire document must now be added to the Articles panel.

 

Summary:

  • The easiest way to structure the TAG reading order of a PDF is to thread your stories in the INDD layout file.
  • In some designs, the Articles panel can help with this, too.
  • And the easiet way to structure the Architectural/Construction order is through the Layers panel.

 

|    Bevi Chagnon   |  Designer, Trainer, & Technologist for Accessible Documents ||    PubCom |    Classes & Books for Accessible InDesign, PDFs & MS Office |
    ValérielArtiste
    ValérielArtiste
    Participant
    March 13, 2025

    Super helpfull, tank you! I have a question then.
    Can you use the article paneland the layer panel at the sametime to ensure better reading order?
    Because when all the text from a document is threaded, if you want to integrate graphics or boxes, picture in the reading order they also have to be anchered in the text? that can make it complicated te design to0. non?

    Y
    ynwtfAuthor
    Inspiring
    May 18, 2022

    Holy monkey butts, Batman!

     

    After some completely random deep dives, I found that there is a check option within the IND Articles Panel, "Use for Tagging Order in Tagged PDF." This was of course checked in our document. I've NEVER used the Article Panel before so I had no idea there was even an option like this that would ignore everything else in the document defining tag structure and read order. This appears to have carried over from another designer, as it's a template IND doc the client sent us. Yes, I need to add that disclaimer.

    UNchecking that evil property seems to have allowed the export of all the tags I was missing in the format I expected. Geez.

     

    I'm going to keep this open for the time being in case I stumble on any other random side effect from this, but that seems to have resolved the matter. Sorry for posting up but I spent nearly two hours this afternoon trying to sort this one. Wow. Articles Panel. I never would have thought this little box could cause so much excitement.

     

    🙂

    Bevi Chagnon - PubCom.com
    Bevi Chagnon - PubCom.com
    Legend
    July 27, 2022
    quote

    Holy monkey butts, Batman!

    After some completely random deep dives, I found that there is a check option within the IND Articles Panel, "Use for Tagging Order in Tagged PDF."

    By @ynwtf

     

    Wait.

    Wait wait wait wait wait.

    Weren't you in class?

    And where is your book, dahlink?

    With much love for you and all my students, your colleague,

    —Bevi

     

    |    Bevi Chagnon   |  Designer, Trainer, & Technologist for Accessible Documents ||    PubCom |    Classes & Books for Accessible InDesign, PDFs & MS Office |
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