Graphic Elements Missing or Distorted in PDF Uploads to Google Drive

[TessBerger]

This may not be an InDesign issue but I've never had the problem before. I'm working on a layout with a lot of graphic elements – intended to be an interactive PDF – and when exporting and then uploading to Drive for others to preview, many, but not all, of the graphic elements either go missing entirely or get very squished and distorted. I have tried exporting as a print PDF as well, and the same thing happens.

I know Drive will alter the PDF, but I have a booklet version with the same graphic elements that uploads totally fine. I'm curious if there's anything I'm messing up in the export settings that could affect this? At this point, trying to export as print, I'm exporting in a PDF/X-1a:2001 standard and just kept the color space RGB.

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[Willi Adelberger]

It is impossible to export a PD/X-1a and have any RGB space as result. Only X-3 and X-4 allow RGB.

The only valid PDF viewer is Adobe Acrobat. All others, like Google are known for wrong PDF representations.

[BobLevine]

Does everything look okay in Acrobat or Reader on a desktop. If so, then it's the best you can do. Keep in mind that when you export, you are exporting an Adobe PDF.

[rob day]

I'm working on a layout with a lot of graphic elements – intended to be an interactive PDF

Hi @TessBerger , have you tried Exporting as Adobe PDF(Interactive) not AdobePDF(Print). As @Willi Adelberger points out the PDF X-1a Standard does not allow RGB color. The Adobe PDF (Interactive) format exports all color as RGB with the sRGB profile embedded.

[TessBerger]

Yes, sorry for not clarifying – I tried exporting as an interactive PDF first but sometimes have issues with that so I exported as a print just to try to maintain everything a little more for our staff routing process. That has usually worked for me in the past, but not this time so I wasn't sure if it was an export issue. I selected the standard and then changed the color space from that so that it became custom – just wanted to have everything else to standard mostly to maintain file size.

Thanks!

[Willi Adelberger]

Interactive PDFs use a lot of the transparency features and active elements. THose are lost in other PDF viewers than Adobe Acrobat.

[rob day]

A print PDF exported to flattened sRGB should display correctly in any web browser. Try setting your Export>Output to this:

[James Gifford—NitroPress]

In addition to all of the above — especially that browser, OS and third party PDF viewers can be problematic with anything but the simplest pages — keep in mind that Google Drive is not an actual, local drive. It and Dropbox and other cloud storage tools use all kinds of tricks and workarounds to simulate a local drive when asked, but in the end, files HAVE to be fully downloaded to a local drive or GD mirror folder before they are certain to be read correctly.