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NoShortyCordonnier
Participating Frequently
June 6, 2012
Answered

InDesign export to PDF doesn't work.

  • June 6, 2012
  • 5 replies
  • 34770 views

Anyone with the slightest clue what I am doing wrong here? I have a InDesign file I am trying to export to a PDF, but it is not working. (I have a screen shot that would make this explaination so much easier, but it won't load)

The file is an A3 a background image, some text and 7 PDF images. 4 of the PDF images am I able to place and export to PDF, but as  soon as I try to add the remainding 3 (or just one of the 3) the file won't export as PDF. All the PDFs are made at the same time, with the same technique (AI files saved as PDFs). The PDF images were orgiginally created in CS4 and CS5, but I ahev edited them in CS6 an saved them after that.

I have tried turning my mac (OS Lion) on and of again. I have tried quitting InDesign. I have tried force quitting InDesign. I have tried about every solution I can find online (that I understand), but it just does not seem to work. What am I doing wrong??

The errors occurring are:

- "Out of memory"

- "Unable to display PDF image on tha page"

- "Failed to export the PDF file"

If anyone could help that would be very much appriciated, since my deadline is in less than 45 hours...

xxx

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer kathrinej39804186

Just incase anyone stumbles across this in the future I had the exact same problem. The solutions above didn't work for me either. I was able to export other PDFs without an issue so assumed there was a problem with the file. I turned all layers off and was able to export a blank page fine. I isolated a single layer and within that a specific file that had corrupted, after replacing the corrupt file I was able to export the document as a PDF without and errors etc.


Thank you for this suggestion - worked for me - simply turning all the layers off - then trying to export until I identified the corrupt image. After re-linking the image, it exported perfectly. Very happy

5 replies

J
jenne_9943
Participant
November 20, 2024

1 Pdf file not opened 

 

Abhishek Rao
Community Manager
Abhishek RaoCommunity Manager
Community Manager
November 20, 2024

Hi @jenne_9943,

 

Thank you for reaching out. To assist with your issue of a PDF file not opening in Adobe InDesign,

Questions to Clarify the Issue:
1. Are you receiving any error messages when trying to open the PDF? If so, could you share the exact text or a screenshot?
2. Was the PDF created from Adobe applications or third-party software? 
3. What version of Adobe InDesign are you using?
4. What operating system and version are you running?
5. Is the PDF saved in a specific compatibility version (e.g., PDF/X, PDF 1.7)?

In the meantime, try below: 
1. Try opening the PDF in Acrobat or another PDF viewer. If it doesn't open, the PDF might be corrupted.
2. Place PDF Instead of Opening:
   - Use 'File > Place' to import the PDF into an InDesign document, as InDesign does not allow direct editing of PDF files.
3. Open the PDF in Adobe Acrobat, use *Save As* or optimize the PDF, and then try importing it into InDesign again.
4. Try opening a different PDF to determine if the issue is specific to this file.


If the issue persists, providing details about the specific PDF file (e.g., its size, source, and compatibility settings) and a screenshot of the error (if any) would help narrow down the problem.

 

Thanks, 

Abhishek Rao

William J Price
William J Price
Participant
April 19, 2017

As odd as this may seem when I experienced this issue in inDesign CC the problem seemed to be images that were simply too large to export to PDF. Some images would export just fine and others wouldn't. The ones that wouldn't would end up in the PDF and grey boxes with the 'X' through them (like a placeholder). My solution was to simply resample the images and this did the trick. I don't know what the image size limit is or even if there is one but using smaller image files helped me crack this problem.

simple_things
simple_things
Participant
March 20, 2015

Finally found a solution! check the links and make sure that you have the right permissions to the links. I had the links all over the different drives, so I gathered them all up and changed the permissions and relinked them. A whole day went to waste just because of this.. (facepalm)

J
jballou1107
Participant
September 8, 2015

How can I look at the permissions for 371 links? Is there a way to batch save the permissions?

M
martyfizz
Participant
September 9, 2015

Not sure about the permissions, but I was having a similar issue with a single page doc in InDesign CS6. I made a copy of the InDesign file and retried the export and success. The original InDesign doc may have corrupted somehow.

M
maryskavalentine
Participant
December 4, 2013

Just in case anyone is still getting the "failed to export PDF" message... I found this thread when I typed the error in to Google: http://hellbox.org/archives/000497.html

I ungrouped everything in my file and had no text spanning over two spreads, because the file is single pages. I tried exporting each page, one at a time to see if I could find the problem and each one failed. I re-saved the file as "test" and then exported the PDF as "test" and it worked. I still have no clue why the program didn't like the original file name, but I thought I would share my experience to see if it could help someone else.

    Peter Spier
    Community Expert
    Peter SpierCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    June 6, 2012

    First, are you sure the background task has completed before you attempt to view the PDF (A good method is to check the box to open the PDF after export)? Or are not even getting to the point of trying to view the PDF?

    Yuo can use the camera icon on the web page to embed an image in your post, like this:

    N
    NoShortyCordonnierAuthor
    Participating Frequently
    June 6, 2012

    I have disable the background task this way http://indesignsecrets.com/a-new-workaround-for-that-pesky-background-export-issue.php so that should not be the issue...

    I can'r even save the PDF, so there is no way of viewing something that is not saved yet.

    And I am able to press the camera button, I am able the choose the screen shot file, but it won't insert (That might be my shit internet connection acting up).

    N
    NoShortyCordonnierAuthor
    Participating Frequently
    June 6, 2012

    First step is probably to try an export to .idml (see Remove minor corruption by exporting)

    Also try opening the file as a copy and save as with a new name.


    After exporting it to IDML, and reopening that file in InDesign to then export to PDF, the same errors keep occurring.

    After opening as copy and exporting as PDF did not help. Same errors occured.

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