Indesign PDFs opening in illustrator with text converted to outlines

[Tammy Steinman]

I received some files that i needed to edit, but do not have the original native inDesign files therefore opened in illustrator and a good portion of the text was converted to outlines. I tried several other PDFs exported from inDesign and the same thing is happening. Anyone else having this problem and what would be causing it? I do not have the "Import PDF pages as links for optimal performance" checked upon opening in Illustrator.

[Test Screen Name]

It suggests that the creator of the files converted text to outlines before making the PDF, or that it happened automatically. Editing is therefore a question of deleting the old graphics (formerly text) and replacing it with new text. Note that Illustrator is NOT a general PDF editor, and you can expect issues if you try to use it for this job. You might try Acrobat to edit, though it will be painful indeed. Placing the pages in InDesign, covering and remaking content is probably the way to go.

[Tammy Steinman]

The file was not converted to text to outlines because some text in a middle of the paragraph comes in as text and then another chunk within the same sentence is outlined.

[Test Screen Name]

"The file was not converted to text to outlines because some text in a middle of the paragraph comes in as text and then another chunk within the same sentence is outlined."  So, not a general conversion. Possibly a transparency flattening affect then, because this is applied only as needed. Anyway, you have no remedy.

[Brad @ Roaring Mouse]

It could be a result of the Transparency and Flattening settings applied in the InDesign file or when exporting the PDF. In order for some effects to render accurately/properly, text may be converted to outlines in some or all cases. Some custom kerning in InDesign can also trigger it for some text and not others. Again, it's trying to make sure your document matches the InDesign layout. This is not a bug. As mentioned, Illustrator is not meant to be a PDF editor.

If you want to save yourself a bit of typing, you can copy the offending text from the PDF in Acrobat (because there it's most likely still selectable as text) and reposition/reformat that in Illustrator.

[Tammy Steinman · Accepted solution]

I believe it's a ligature issue after doing some further research last night. I found a free vector program online last nite and opened the file through that and interestingly none of the text was turned to outlines but anything with a "fi" was missing the "i". Text was broken into individual pieces but i have a script to put it into one sentence. Still not the easier way to make it work but quicker than relaying everything out from scratch.

[Brad @ Roaring Mouse]

That would do it (re: ligature). I just now did a test on a business card file I just happened to be working on for a client, with one ligature in it. I opened that PDF in Illustrator, and sure enough, that ONE word was converted.

Have fun!

[John Mensinger]

InDesign > PDF > Illustrator is not an intended workflow. Many factors may compromise editability.

[SJRiegel]

I would extract any images from the PDF, copy the text from Acrobat, and then rebuild the file with InDesign.  A bit of trouble now to save yourself a lot more trouble in the future. 

[Tammy Steinman]

i was looking for a quicker solution than the above..thanks.

[Jeff Witchel, ACI]

I agree with both John Mensinger and Eugene Tyson above. 

It is not a great idea to open a PDF Exported out of InDesign in Illustrator.

Illustrator and InDesign have features and ways of working that are totally different than each other. It's almost as if the two apps are talking the same language, but totally different dialects. So when you open that InDesign PDF in Illustrator, you'll get an error message something like, To preserve Appearance, some type may have been outlined. In other words, Illustrator is not understanding part of the code in the InDesign PDF.

[Tammy Steinman]

Jeff-yes, i agree with all of you 🙂 Needed a quick solution to get file out the door and was looking for a reason as to what was causing it sometimes happening and sometimes not but in this case it was a ligature, Thanks all for your responses.

[Jens Trost]

If you want a quick solution, look into

https://markzware.com/products/pdf2dtp/
or
https://www.recosoft.com/products/pdf2id/

These can convert you PDF to ID (results may vary depending on the complexitiy of your PDF)

[Eugene Tyson]

Illustrator is not an all-purpose PDF editor. 

https://community.adobe.com/t5/acrobat/open-pdf-file-with-illustrator/td-p/9497215?page=1

@Dov Isaacs 

It's an erroneous workflow.