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

[Randall B Miller]

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?

[Guest]

I found that by changing the Viewing Quality to High, the PDF will export in a better resolution. However, this will become very annoying and should be fixed please!

[edie_adams]

"I found that by changing the Viewing Quality to High, the PDF will export in a better resolution. However, this will become very annoying and should be fixed please!"

This was the first suggestion that we tried, as it is the most common solution to low-rez exports. Did not help in any way in 2018.

[Laubender]

Does it make a difference, if the PDF Export setting will downsample images or not?
Or if "Crop Images to Frame" is set or not?

Regards,
Uwe

[PaulNOOA]

Unfortunately not for my users

[edie_adams]

Just adding my experience to this - my entire graphics team has had to downgrade back to 2017. 2018 was constantly exporting low-rez linked images and it was interfering with our ability to produce quality PDFs, and we tried all the typical solutions we've seen in threads like this one. We are going to wait until Adobe sorts this out because this is ridiculous.

[AliciaMSU07]

Totally agree; I am actually very surprised this issue has not be resolved yet. Adobe is usually on top of this but I feel with this latest upgrade + OS issues they have missed the mark. Patiently awaiting a fix and in the meantime, we have also downgraded our whole department back to 2017.

[lnivin3]

This may help Adobe find the solution. We're working in CC2017 because of issues. We had an InDesign CC2018 come in, along with the customer created IDML which contained an image that was copied and pasted into InDesign (not a linked image).

The IDML file looked very jagged with opened in CC2017 and CC2018.

The InDesign CC2018 opened in CC2018 was MUCH smoother. When opened in CC2017 it was very jagged.

[visuals1]

OK, so the problem is exporting PDFs fails to follow links to high-res art. Some have suggested searching for and trashing preference files. An older thread pointed out this easier way to reset preferences on a Mac: As you launch InDesign, IMMEDIATELY hold down Command-Option-Control-Shift. That should give you (if you're fast enough) a dialog box that lets you choose to reset preferences. Worked for me, Hallelujah! No more temporarily embedding images just to write a PDF.

At least, so far...

[tinac64978753]

I am having this issue as well. I have gone through all of the suggested options listed throughout this forum, even embedding images, and still getting horribly pixelated images/graphics in my pdfs. I, as well, have a colleague who has yet to run into this issue with the same files. I ran into this issue for the first time yesterday when I was trying to export a file for a deadline. A deadline I would not have made if my colleague would not have been able to produce the pdf. A missed deadline that could cost my firm money. As mentioned above, this is truly frustrating and unacceptable.

[triadcom]

It would be interesting to know what the difference is between your computer and your colleague's. I have two Macs, but am having the same problem on both.

[tinac64978753]

Both Windows - however, I am on Windows 7 Professional, and he has Windows 8.

[peters43396455]

We are having exactly the same issue with Indesign 2018 exporting low resolution PDF's!!! Causing havoc in our Studio and have had to revert back to 2017 to create hi-res pdf's.

Surely with so many people having the same problem following the upgrade, this should've been resolved as a priority by Adobe!!! Why release software with such a major fundamental flaw, particularly when we have multiple copies of CC and generate Pdf's fro client artwork 24hrs per day!

Come on Adobe get this resolved asap please, it's embarrassing!

[PaulNOOA]

Multiple users here are also experiencing this issue. The only way to guarantee high quality PDF export, is to reset preferences every time you start InDesign.

Export to JPG is fine as well.

[cmpreshn]

Just adding a 'me too' for this post. I've been experiencing multiple problems with art exported to PDF outputting only low resolution previews. I'm am exporting with a modified version of the PDF x4 setting, to output final art for magazine / print production, so this is a huge problem for me. At the moment, I've exported my recent projects to IDML and have been exporting from InDesign 2017. That has been working fine. Thankfully, I have not been using any of the new 2018-specific features.

[PaulNOOA]

Ok, seems if I print to Acrobat PDF (installed with Acrobat DC) the images are exported at the proper resolution. However using the export function, the images are in very low resolution.

[JR Boulay]

HI.

I think I found the origin of this bug:

On my MacBookPro* and on my iMac* InDesign CC 2018 exports low res. images (regardless settings) in PDFs when using the PDF 1.3 format, otherwise they are OK.

Why do I need PDF 1.3 for "screen" documents?

Because of an Acrobat's bug:

I have a customer that wants files in PPTX format, and to export correctly from PDF to PPTX Acrobat needs a PDF 1.3 file, it is the most reliable format version. Otherwise there are lines, boxes and graphics that disappear, are truncated or misplaced.

* MacOS X.11, aka El Capitan

[PaulNOOA]

Thanks for the info, unfortunately no matter what PDF version I choose, the output is always the same

[conrador5042256]

Hi,

Version 13.0.1 solved the issue for me (MacOs). All pdfs work fine now, without any aditional adjustments.

[RaviKiran]

November 2017 (13.0.1) release of InDesign CC has just become available via the Adobe Creative Cloud Desktop application.

Please update InDesign and see if the issue is resolved.

[Laubender]

Hi Ravi,

thank you for the fast deployment of InDesign CC 2018 13.0.1 through the CC Desktop app!

Highly appreciated.

Regards,
Uwe

[JR Boulay]

Please update InDesign and see if the issue is resolved.

My InDesign CC 2018 was updated today: the "low-res" issue remains the same, even when using Laubender's workaround.

[Laubender]

Did you trash your preferences before updating?

Regards,
Uwe

[sarahv88433758]

This seems to have solved the issue for me!

[nickm74821483]

Did this get fixed yet? I downgraded and am wondering if it's worth trying the latest version again.

[Anasuiya Gupta]

Yes, the issue was fixed with the update of InDesign CC (13.0.1).

And, you should try the latest version, it has a number of exciting features like Endnotes, Paragraph Borders, and many more, along with a number of bug fixes increasing the stability and performance of InDesign.

Regards

Anasuiya Gupta