Exported design looks different than within InDesign

[_forrest_]

I created some artwork all within InDesign and when I export it, the output is significantly different. 

InDesign screenshot

Acrobat screenshot

This happens regardless of the export format (eg also happens in jpeg & png.) 

PNG

What is a little intriguing, is if I change the resolution of a jpeg or png export, eg to 72ppi, then there's still an issue, but it's different:

It seems like the effects are not scaling properly when exporting, among other issues. The issue also occurs if I copy the artwork out of InDesign and paste it into Illustrator.

The blue curve you see most pronounced in the last screenshot, conists of a single stroke, 100pt thick. I've then applied a gradient to it, set the blend mode to Hard Light and added Basic Feather to it.

[Abhishek Rao]

Hi @_forrest_,  

I’m sorry to hear about the frustration this issue is causing. Could you please share your InDesign version and operating system details? Is this problem happening with just this document or all files?  

If you’re comfortable, sharing the file and a screenshot of your export settings would help us understand the issue better and find a solution.  

Thank you for bringing this to our attention, we’re here to help!  

Thanks,  
Abhishek Rao  

[_forrest_]

Hi @Abhishek Rao . Admittedly, it's a bit older version as the computer (Mac) I'm using won't run the latest version. I've use this version a ton and it's the first time I've run into exporting issues like this. I'm not sure if I've applied filters to a path like this before. I've created an all new file with just this part of the artwork and the issue persists. A sample file is attached.

I've also exported two PNGs, one at 72ppi and the other at 300ppi. Examples are attached, along with the PNG export settings.

[Joel Cherney]

I am no big user of transparency, but I think that your problem is going to be related to transparency in one way or another. I tried exporting both Print and Interactive PDFs from your "test artwork.indd" and I got a warning when exporting the print PDF:

You say that it doesn't matter what format you export to, but I think it might. I think that you are working with objects that use transparency and are all RGB colors. You're test-exporting to target formats that only support RGB color, correct? Like PNG and JPEG and interactive PDF. But your transparency blend space is set to CMYK. Check out what happens when I switch the transparency blend space on your artwork in InDesign:

If you're planning on working with transparent objects with RGB color settings, and you're going to be exporting to target formats that only support RGB, then I suspect you should start in the Document RGB transparency blend space. 

[_forrest_]

Thanks for catching that. It probably happened when I created the test file. I've fixed that locally and the problem still persits. It's good for file hygine at least, and avoiding other potential issues.

To answer your specific question, I've exported it as PDF, PNG, JPEG and EPS. All have the same issue, regardless of colors used.

[leo.r]

Hi @Abhishek Rao . Admittedly, it's a bit older version as the computer (Mac) I'm using won't run the latest version.

Ok so what ARE the exact versions of your InDesign and macOS, as well as your computer model and the RAM amount?

[_forrest_]

macOS 10.14.6

Mac Pro (Nehalem) 2 x 3.33 GHz 6-Core Intel Xeon

32GB RAM

InDesign CS6 8.1

Yes, I know it's old.

[_forrest_]

I discovered a workaround. The issue seems to be that the resizing of the effects on the stroke doesn't work properly on export to any format. I usually use effects on shapes rather than paths with a stroke, so I haven't run across this before. I also noticed that when I open up the PDF export in Illustrator, the path has been converted to a shape. The same happens when I copy the artwork out of InDesign and paste it in Illustrator.

Here's my workaround:

• I took the path and chaged it to a solid color (it wouldn't work with a gradient, for some reason.)
• I copied it out of InDesign and pasted it into Illustrator. That converted it to a shape.
• I then copied that shape out of Illustrator and pasted it into InDesign.
• At that point, I added the gradient, added the effect and adjusted the blend mode.

A screenshot of the two versions looks like this

 

There are slight coloring differences, but I can work through those.

The export looks like this:

 

There's still another broken path in there, but the blue one is fixed and you can see that in the screenshots.