Adobe image place in InDesign not generating correctly when exported to PDF

[cdesignboston]

Weird thing happening. An illustrator graphic placed into InDesign is correct in Illustrator and InDesign, but when it is exported to PDF (also as a postscript file) it is not the most current iteration of the image.

Things tried:

- Saved the image with a different name and relinked to it

- Moved all files off of the Google Drive and did everything from the Mac Desktop

- Tried on a Mac with Ventura (most updated desktop Adobe products)

- Tried on a Mac with Big Sur (most updated desktop Adobe products)

- Illustrator image saved then placed in InDesign as an EPS

- Illustrator image left as .ai then placed in InDesign

Image in Illustrator (no hidden layers):

Image in InDesign Document:

Image in postscript file:

Image in exported from InDesign PDF:

 

Both postscript and PDF do not have any blue in them as was updated in the file.

Has anyone experienced this? If yes, what did you do to resolve? Not sure which Adobe application is having the issue, so starting post in app where the issue first arose. Thanks!

 

[Abambo]

The problem with this has nothing to do with Acrobat, and definitely is not a PDF file format problem.

The file is probably an Illustrator file that has been edited outside of Illustrator, so that the embedded PDF and the Illustrator data do not correspond any more. To check that, open the file in Acrobat (Adobe Acrobat can open an Illustrator file like a PDF file, if there is an embedded PDF preview) and open the same file in Illustrator. Are they the same?

Nb: I moved this from the Acrobat forum to the Illustrator forum, as it is probably an Illustrator issue.

[cdesignboston]

Thank you for moving to this forum and for the insight.

In Acrobat, I opened (had to select 'all files' so I could select the .ai file) it opened as it appears in Illustrator. I does convert to a PDF when it opens, which I assume is accurate, it looks correct, just like in the Illustrator document:

.ai file opened in Acrobat: 

Illustrator (with all elements selected):

It looks correct when placed in InDesign as well.

 

It is only when you export from InDesign to PDF that it is incorrect.

Curious, in what way could the file be edited outside of Illustrator? That isn't something we would probably do intentionally. My only thought was a blip when it was saving on the google drive?

Thanks.

[Abambo]

Curious, in what way could the file be edited outside of Illustrator? That isn't something we would probably do intentionally. My only thought was a blip when it was saving on the google drive?

Thanks.

By @cdesignboston

Could be edited in Acrobat. Or a different editor for PDF.

Thank you for moving to this forum and for the insight.

By @cdesignboston

You're welcome.

[cdesignboston]

The file was definitely not intentionally changed outside of illustrator. I'm thinking it was a weird sync issue at this point. Thank you so much for clarifying though!

[Met1]

Select the blue bar in Illy and do a screen shot with transparency, color, attributes and apperance panels open, and post it here...

Also, if you open the original pdf in Acrobat (i.e. BEFORE you made any edits), go to Properties (Edit Menu, ctrl-D on PC) below the Description panel there's Advanced - what does PDF Producer say?

[cdesignboston]

PDF producer is Adobe PDF Library 17.0

This was in a different location that referenced above because I'm on a Mac. 

Thanks, in advance for any ideas!

[Met1]

Hmmm...

Ok, so what happens if you select all, copy, and place into a new doc?

[Monika Gause · Accepted solution]

When you create a new InDesign file and then place the correct AI file in it and then export that. Does it work?

[cdesignboston]

I rebuilt the page image from scratch in InDesign with the background photo, the multiplied gray box and the .ai image. And it worked! So apparently it was an InDesign file issue. The good new is you helped test it with something we didn't think of. The bad news is, because this was a multi page magazine, we would not have rebuilt the entire thing from scratch. Probably some sort of ID bug. Thank you!

[Monika Gause]

Good you could solve it. But I'm sorry you had to rebuild it.

Maybe the people over in the InDesign forum have some more insights.

[cdesignboston]

It would be great if someone could move this whole post over to the InDesign Forum!

[Abambo]

It would be great if someone could move this whole post over to the InDesign Forum!

By @cdesignboston

Moved to the InDesign Forum. 🙃

[Jim Haven]

Maybe this will help. Try saving the INDD file as an IDML, reopen the file and save it as a new INDD file. Sometimes this removes bugs. Good luck.

[cdesignboston]

Jim, that would have been a great solution! Unfortunately I just tried it and whatever this bug is, it didn't take care of it.

[Willi Adelberger]

1. Never usd EPS in modern times, avoid it.
2. When you place an Illustrator image save it as AI or PDF/X-4 and place it as linked file.
3. Take care on you color management. If you use CMYK graphics work without color profile in the AI file.

[cdesignboston]

Thanks Willi. Yes it was weird. It was .ai. Then because of what happened, I think it .eps was attempted. Neither made a difference, but I agree, sticking with .ai is much better!