How to Fix PDF Display Issues on Chrome for InDesign Exported Files

[Daniele5D91]

Hello everybody,

I have a quite annoing problem with my team. We work on a strategic content called "white paper" that we build on inDesign. When exporting the PDF to publish on the website we have visualization problems on some browser, mainly on Chrome that doesn't show some images that are inside the PDF.

https://www.eng.it/content/dam/eng-portal/resources/documents/trend-radar/generative-ai/ENG24_TR-Gen... 

This is an example. At page 4 there's the rest of the image that is at page 3 that doesn't show up.

Same thing happes here at page 9: 
https://www.eng.it/content/dam/eng-portal/resources/documents/white-paper/portfolio/energy-utilities...

On page 26 it shows the image but doesn't have a yellow overlay that we placed on the mastro to make the image turn to yellow.

If you download the file and open it on Acrobat Reader everything show up correctly.

Does anybody know how we can fix this problem?
Thanks,

Daniele


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[Abhishek Rao]

Hi @Daniele5D91,

Thanks for reaching out! Sorry to hear you're facing these issues with your PDFs in Chrome.

Could you please share the version of InDesign you're using and details about your operating system? Also, does this happen with just these files or with other InDesign exports as well?

If you haven’t already, I’d recommend trying to open the PDF in an incognito window or after resetting your browser. Sometimes browser settings or extensions can cause display issues.

Looking forward to your response, and we’ll figure this out together!

Best,  
Abhishek Rao

[Daniele5D91]

Hi Abhishek, 

the inDesign file is quite big but you can try to dowload it from this WeTransfer: https://we.tl/t-oivyqD1e2Y

I use a MacBook Pro with Sonoma 14.4 and the problem happens with all the indesign files but randomly, some images are displayed correctly, other are not. Thanks for you precious support.

[leo.r]

I don't seem to see any differences in page 9 between the PDF link in Chrome and your InDesign document (apart from different languages):

Also, I assume you're referring to "logical" page numbers (not absolute).

Can you please post screenshots that demonstrate the exact differences between the PDF you see in Chrome and your InDesign document, as well as the same PDF as displayed in Acrobat?

[Daniele5D91]

Hi Leo, first of all thanks everybody for your support. You're correct, I'm referring to the logical page 9. I am sharing the screenshot of the document via chrome (image missing on the right) and on Acrobat Reader.

Thanks a lot.

[leo.r]

You're correct, I'm referring to the logical page 9.

By @Daniele5D91

First, to avoid a confusion in terminology: you're actually referring to absolute page numbers.

The "logical" (in PDF terminology) page number is 7:

9 is the absolute page number, that is the page's offset in the document:

Browser PDF viewers don't seem to have the capacity to display and locate logical page numbers, which adds yet another level of confusion for online PDF representation.

Regardless, I don't see this problem for this particular page in Chrome either:

Do you experience the same issue in other browsers?

[leo.r]

Browser PDF viewers don't seem to have the capacity to display and locate logical page numbers

By @leo.r

P.S. Actually, Firefox does allow to use logical page numbers in PDF. 

[James Gifford—NitroPress]

PDF viewers are not all the same; the only reliable one that supports all PDF features and document variations is Acrobat.

Secondary viewers like Foxit and QuickPDF(?) are not fully compliant, often because they are built to different goals (faster, smaller software footprint, "not Adobe" etc.) They cannot be assured to handle anything but flat page display properly (meaning links, display preset, interactive features etc. may not work.)

Browser and OS based readers are basic, streamlined for quick web viewing. They often do a poor job on anything but flat pages, and sometimes muck up even those. There is nothing you can do about this except not use secondary or system readers for any but the simplest documents.

[Eugene Tyson]

Further to the advice give by @James Gifford—NitroPress  try exporting as flattened PDF - using PDFx1a settings

https://community.adobe.com/t5/indesign-discussions/export-a-flattened-pdf-without-layers-from-indes...

[Laubender]

Hi Daniele,

my recommendation for PDF Export (Print) for browsers or PDF viewer apps other than Acrobat Pro or Adobe Reader on macOS or Windows is this:

Regards,
Uwe Laubender
( Adobe Community Expert )

[Laubender · Accepted solution]

Here the options for PDF Export (Print) as text:

Standard: None
Compatibility: Acrobat 4 (PDF 1.3)

Output > Color >
Color Conversion: Convert to Destination
Destination: sRGB IEC61966-2.1
Profile Inclusion Policy: Include Destination Profile
[ x ] Simulate Overprint

Important: If you are using any spot colors in your document, do NOT convert any spot colors to CMYK with the Ink Manager. Leave them visible as spot colors in the Ink Manager.

Note: The settings above do not match settings that are neccessary for CMYK printing. Do that only for PDFs that should be viewed in browsers and other PDF viewer apps that are not Acrobat Pro or Adobe Reader for macOS and Windows.

Regards,
Uwe Laubender
( Adobe Community Expert )

[Daniele5D91]

Thanks you so much. These settings fixed the problem. The Output export settings are a wide complicated world that I didn't know much about. Thanks a lot for your help and detailed support. 

[Eugene Tyson]

Exactly the settings I recommended