Images placed in InDesign are pixelated

Hi Bonnie,

Thanks for reaching out. I am hopeful that the issue is resolved by the steps shared above. If not, please share a few more details like:

• OS and version of InDesign
• Screenshots of the original pictures and after importing them into InDesign
• How these files are being created originally?

Regards,

Srishti

Please excuse me for asking the obvious: But with a new laptop and a new version of InDesign, how did you transfer all your working files to the new system? Are the InDesign files and associated graphics all stored locally? Or are they accessed through a network of cloud access? Or some combination of the above?

If they're all accessed locally, have they been stored in the exact same "file structure"/organization as they were in the old system? Have any of them been done with packaged frolders from the old system, which would contain all the linked files and fonts within a package folder and intrinsically packaged to find everything needed to output the relevant PDF file(s)?

InDesign uses "relative" file referencing — e.g. travel this route from the folder where the InDesign file is stored to make a link reference to linked file(s). If the file system on your new system doesn't match exactly, the relative reference to the linked file is blown and needs to be relinked to establish a new relative reference to the new linked location. Heck, depending on the platform, even if you matched the file organization perfectly, it contains the name of the system in the relative reference and if you didn't rename the new system exactly the same as the old system, the link is still blown.

I'd suggest checking your Links panel and seeing if the links to placed graphics need updating. Re-establishing your links for troubled files will hopefully alleviate all your problems with existing files. And if you still have access to the old system, see if first packaging a given InDesign job with all its associated links and fonts eliminates the issue. I'll bet you a nickel that it helps ... and from there it'll just be lather-rinse-repeat until you get your jobs from the old system saved in a workable file organization.

And I hope this helps you,

Randy