Indesign 2018 saving all pdf's very low-res regardless of settings.

Report · Oct 21, 2017

I can't make Indesign 2018 export a high res pdf. All the links are great. Preflight is green. Verified my pdf presets resolutions, and also tried the default ones. Everything, eps and raster, is low res when it comes up in Acrobat DC.

When I go back to Indesign 2017, it outputs correctly at high res, the same exact files, as it always had.

I uninstalled acrobat DC, and that made no difference. How do I fix the distiller with Indesign 2018?

The Indesign 2018 pdf results look lower than 72 dpi. Anyone else see this?

Report · Oct 25, 2017

Would have been nice to know before upgrading to the latest version. By the time any of us have this issue it is too late and we have already updated with the default option to migrate previous settings.

Report · Oct 25, 2017

Anasuiya: This is working. I don't know why, but it seems to work (at the moment). Thank you.

Report · Oct 25, 2017

Didn't work for me. Although the option wasn't checked, after turning it on I get the same result.

Report · Oct 25, 2017

It won't work if you manually check the preference. You will have to trash both your InDesign cache and preferences (of all previous versions as well) for this to work. When you will launch InDesign with clean preferences, the preference to check links will be ON by default and things will start to work fine.

Report · Oct 25, 2017

Got it. Doing that did indeed work, thanks! Hopefully that's the ticket.

Report · Oct 26, 2017

Update: This fix didn't last. After dumping my preferences (Version 13.0 folder and com.adobe.InDesign.plist), it worked fine. I then changed my preferences as usual (panel selections, etc.), and the next export was low-res again. Dumping only the Version 13.0 folder again (not the .plist) fixed it, but now I feel like I'm stuck with default panels and preferences for fear of losing my exporting ability.

Seems like the trouble is in the V13 folder. Is it a particular preference setting that's causing this? Is it the change in preferences in general? After my job is sent off today I plan to experiment to narrow it down to the offending file, if I can.

Report · Oct 26, 2017

timf_bvh wrote
I then changed my preferences as usual (panel selections, etc.), and the next export was low-res again.
Is it a particular preference setting that's causing this? Is it the change in preferences in general?

What all changes did you make to Preferences? Did you uncheck the option "Check Links Before..." under the File Handling section?

Report · Oct 26, 2017

That was the one preference I hadn't changed, thanks. After going through the process again and turning that on, it appears to be working as expected, regardless of the other preferences.

Report · Oct 26, 2017

Could you tell us a bit more about your workflow - Why do you turn OFF the option 'Check Links Before Opening Document' in Preferences? Isn't it helpful to know that your document contains some missing links when the document is being opened? If the 'Check Links Before Opening Document' is off, you won't know that there are some links missing in the document unless you remember to open the Links panel to check if all Links are intact.

Report · Oct 26, 2017

I've been known to turn that off myself when working on text edits in a large document with many links that I know either aren't available at all or are out of date.

Report · Oct 26, 2017

Yes, I can understand that in a large document, you want to quicken the opening of the document if you know that links may or may not be available or out of date. But otherwise, does checking links take a long time and slows you down unnecessarily? What if you let the 1st option remain ON but just uncheck the second option 'Find Missing Links...'?

Report · Oct 26, 2017

Since this recent update it's been turned off as a default for me, so when I trash my preferences I have to go back in and turn it back on. Before all this I honestly didn't even know the option was there to turn it on/off.

I prefer to have it on, but there are enough other reminders--preflight marker, links panel, error messages when printing/exporting--that it didn't register that there wasn't the initial check upon opening the document.

Report · Oct 26, 2017

Could you tell us a bit more about your workflow - Why do you turn OFF the option 'Check Links Before Opening Document' in Preferences? Isn't it helpful to know that your document contains some missing links when the document is being opened? If the 'Check Links Before Opening Document' is off, you won't know that there are some links missing in the document unless you remember to open the Links panel to check if all Links are intact.

I mine set to off as it speeds up the opening of the document considerably, and also because if I am making small changes to a document, it isn't necessary for all the links to be working correctly. Only when I the file is ready for print do I pay any attention to the links and preflight panels. Any half-decent designer would be checking this before printing and not having to rely on a prompt that slows down the opening process, especially when working with server files.

Report · Oct 26, 2017

danmcc13 wrote
Any half-decent designer would be checking this before printing and not having to rely on a prompt that slows down the opening process, especially when working with server files.

Perhaps, but it could just as easily be argued that "any half-decent designer" would immediately want to know how/when/why their links broke since the last time the file was opened; "especially when working with server files."

Personally, I'd rather wait a few extra seconds when routinely opening the file than find out about broken links (to server-resident files that are accessible to others) weeks later when the deliverables deadline is that much closer.

Report · Oct 26, 2017

Depends on what you're designing.

Working on newspapers and magazines, files are constantly being updated or are missing that aren't relevant to what I'm working on at that moment.

Report · Oct 26, 2017

danmcc13 wrote
Depends on what you're designing.

I agree, of course.

That's exactly why I challenged your generalized characterization of "any half-decent designer."

Report · Oct 25, 2017

I have fixed the low-res pdf issue (at least temporarily) by reformatting the boot drive and putting High Sierra, CC, etc. in as virgins, like a new machine. No transfer of settings etc. Its working now. I'll report back if it reverts to the bad behavior. (I had originated this forum question).

Report · Oct 25, 2017

Holy Cow! You had to reformat your hard drive and fresh install everything to fix this!? That's insane! No way I'm going to that extent to fix this garbage.

Report · Oct 26, 2017

I have tried all the above solutions in regards to deleting preferences and they are only temporary solutions as everyone else has also mentioned. I am having to delete and reset my preferences two times a day due to this bug. Please fix this critical error.

Report · Oct 26, 2017

Just wanted to pop in here and say that myself and a coworker are also having this issue. The only fix we've found for now is to export as Interactive PDF, but this isn't ideal because the dialog box prevents us from working until the export is complete. Please fix this ASAP Adobe! Definitely a critical error in the new program! !

Report · Oct 26, 2017

Exact same issue here. Just started after working okay.

Thanks to everyone who is trying to find a fix. Can't lose productivity here, so I'm downgrading.

Report · Oct 26, 2017

I've just tried to replicate the OP's issue using the files supplied by the dropbox link, but alas I could not. I'm running a Mac 10.12.6 running IDCC 13.0.

I've also had a look at the different versions of the PDF that were supplied by the OP, but using a wireframe previewer that comes with an Acrobat plug-in called Enfocus Pitstop. The 2017 PDF shows some graphics that have vector elements, but in the 2018 the vector elements have been completely rendered at low resolution. It's almost as if InDesign thinks the links weren't there and that InDesign is trying to export the PDF using the screen-based proxy images only.

When the PDFs were made, was overprint preview on or off? This sounds like a stupid idea, but what happens if a PDF is made when overprint preview is on, compared to when overprint preview is off?

If the answer wasn't in my post, perhaps it might be on my blog at colecandoo!

Report · Oct 27, 2017

I changed my overprint options in the Windows>Output>Attributes menu and it did fix a .png signature that had been blocking out text. But, most of my jpegs and pdfs are still exporting low quality.

Report · Oct 27, 2017

I created a graphic in InDesign CC 2018, exported it as an EPS, and placed the EPS into a new InDesign file, generated a PDF and many of the colour shapes disappeared completely.

Tried it again by opening the IDML file generated with InDesign CC 2018, in CS6, and the same thing happened.

Report · Oct 30, 2017

Hi,

same issue here with the inDesign 2018 Spanish version. In my case only some random images appear Low-Res in the PDFs.

What worked for me:

1-Open inDesign or close all inDesign open documents

2-Go to Preferences> File Handling> Check "Check links before Opening" and Uncheck the rest of parameters regarding links

3-Click Ok to save preferences

4-Quit inDesign and Open it, then the Hi Res pdf exportation worked fine for all images

I didn't have to erase any other preference or make any clean install of the program, but for the previous posts i see that I've been very lucky.