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Tricia Ho
Participating Frequently
August 17, 2009
Answered

Export to PNG in InDesign?

  • August 17, 2009
  • 3 replies
  • 107954 views

Hi all,

I have a simple question. Is it possible to export to PNG in InDesign? Right now, I've been doing a copy-paste into Illustrator, then saving it as PNG from there. Is there a better way to do this?

Trish

InDesign CS4 | PC

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer Eugene Tyson

InDesign can now export to PNG from File>Export and pick the file format.

3 replies

E
Community Expert
Eugene TysonCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
Community Expert
November 30, 2022

InDesign can now export to PNG from File>Export and pick the file format.

A
Anonymous
August 17, 2009

export the PDF and open and save in Photoshop.

Scott Falkner
Community Expert
Scott FalknerCommunity Expert
Community Expert
August 17, 2009

No version of InDesign can export to PNG. But there is a much better way than copy/paste into Illustrator. Export a PDF then save that as PNG from Acrobat or rasterize in Photoshop and save as PNG from Photoshop.

Jongware
Community Expert
JongwareCommunity Expert
Community Expert
August 17, 2009

Oddly enough, that's not .. entirely .. true.

The CS4 scripting help lists "PNG Format" amongst its possible export formats. A  quick test

app.activeDocument.selection[0].exportFile(ExportFormat.PNG_FORMAT, File(new File("c:\\test.png")));

shows CS4 can export to PNG. However, there are no settings to change, which limits its usefulness.

rob day
Community Expert
rob dayCommunity Expert
Community Expert
May 23, 2011

Thanks John. My post got longer than I originally expected. Otherwise I would have just made a new thread.

I feel like I should clarify my original post that you replied to. That list of processes isn't one sequence of actions to get a final product. It lists every seperate method I've tried (unsuccessfully) to get usable images out of InDesign. I'm not doing them all in sequence. That would be a real workflow issue.

Saving PDFs from Acrobat doesn't give you translucent PNGs, because of the white paper background it assumes; even if you didn't have a background set in InDesign. I tried that too and was disappointed. Also, there's no way to "delete" the paper/page/white-background in Acrobat Pro before saving as PNG.


Also, there's no way to "delete" the paper/page/white-background in Acrobat Pro before saving as PNG.

When you export the PDF from ID make sure it includes live transparency (i.e., PDF/X-4 and not PDF/X-1a), then the document's page background will be transparent when you open it into Photoshop.

Saving pages out to PNGs is scriptable—I have an AppleScript that would work if you’re using OSX. I'm not sure why a PDF page would take minutes to open unless you are asking for huge res—my script opens a page at 300 ppi in a few seconds.

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